North West Starter Great British Menu

This year on Great British Menu...

I think the pressure's on now.

If I don't get these right, I'm in it.

..the country's best chefs are striving to plate up perfection...

That dish really has got potential.

..for a glorious banquet celebrating

100 years of the Women's institute...

See, that's fantastic, isn't it?

..at London's Drapers' Hall, where pioneers of the WI once gathered.

The chefs must honour the custodians of first-class home cooking...

It's about the inspiring women in my life,

from my grandmother right up to my baby daughter.

..with flawless 21st century dishes.

Wow, again! Bit of a wow.

Battling it out for the North West...

returning contender Mark Ellis.

Last year was a nightmare for me.

I've worked really hard on this brief. I hope it's paid off.

Hot on his heels - two determined newcomers.

Executive chef Eve Townson...

This is about the Women's Institute.

There has to be a woman at the banquet. I hope it's me.

And at just 27, the youngest chef in the kitchen...

Matt Worswick.

My grandma was in the WI. I want to make her proud and go all the way.

Mark failed to make it to the judges last year.

This time, he can't afford to lose.

If you come out of starter and you haven't had a good mark,

you've got the potential there for your head to go down.

But can he beat his resolute rivals?

-Nice colour for an egg.

-You trying to put me off?

100 years ago, the Women's Institute was set up to inspire women

to produce and preserve food.

Today it's known for fool-proof recipes and classic home cooking.

Spices make a difference. It's lovely.

Got my approval.

To honour the institute, the chefs have researched its history

and taken inspiration from the important women in their lives...

-The thyme is really coming through.

-It really lifts it.

-Well done.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

..to produce world-class dishes worthy of the WI.

-I had some good teachers.

-Thank you.

-Mwah!

Judging the chefs this week is a culinary heavyweight

and former banquet winner.

-So Mark's returning this year.

-Yeah, glutton for punishment.

So we'll definitely be watching you, then.

Wait till the veteran chef walks through the door.

Holder of two Michelin stars, a chef with notoriously high standards...

I drew a really tough judge last year in Daniel,

so anybody other than that.

..the formidable Sat Bains.

-Hello, chefs.

-Morning, chef.

-How are we all feeling?

-Nervous.

-Mark, second time for you, how do you feel?

I think I've got a bit to prove after last year.

Cool. Matt, first time for you.

I just need to get settled in and start cooking, really.

Hopefully it should be OK.

Eve, as the only woman here, how do you feel against these two?

Slightly more nervous now I've seen you, but...

So, guys, as you know, a big year for the Women's Institute.

They obviously strive on perfection and that's what I'm looking for,

so good luck.

-ALL:

-Thank you, Chef.

This is going to be really tough.

-Yeah, I'm more nervous now, definitely.

-Mm.

First up, returning chef Mark Ellis.

Last year he came under fire from veteran

Daniel Clifford for using synthetic flavours in his dishes.

He's using a product called flavour enhancer.

I hope it doesn't ruin my palate.

I've been bitterly disappointed.

He left the competition after the dessert curse.

Gutted. Absolutely devastated.

This year, he's more determined than ever to cook for the judges.

I think it was a phenomenal failure on my part,

and to repeat that would be devastating.

-How are you?

-OK, Chef.

So, what's the inspiration for your whole menu?

The frugality that the Women's Institute bring to their food,

also incorporating a cheeky little bit of their sense of humour.

So what's the dish that you're doing today for the starter?

So this dish is my Jam And Jerusalem Breakfast.

-OK.

-The Women's Institute is synonymous with jam and Jerusalem,

so I wanted to incorporate those two things into a dish and the flavours

that I came up with evolved into a sort of pigeon-based breakfast.

-I've got some fantastic squab pigeon here.

-OK.

I'm going to use half of the breasts and the legs to make a sausage

and I'm going to use the rest of the breasts to make bacon.

So you won't be using a wood pigeon which is more native to the UK?

With the squab pigeons, you've got a bit more

of a uniform flavour for me.

-So, with that, I'm going to make a home-made soda bread.

-OK.

I see a...a bottle of chemicals here.

-It's not like last year, is it?

-It's smoke oil. No, Chef.

I'm going to make with that some really nice home-made smoked butter.

I'm going to serve that with a nice blackberry conserve.

I've got some fantastic Jerusalem artichokes.

These are going to be a pickled Jerusalem artichoke scrambled egg.

So that's going to be interesting to see.

Yeah, it's a bit risky, so I'm hoping that it pays off.

I can see the collaboration of Jam And Jerusalem Breakfast

because it's synonymous with the WI,

but there's a lot of ingredients there that could jar, and it's

interesting to see how they're going to work together as a complete dish.

Next up is Matt Worswick. A first-timer on Great British Menu,

he's determined to put the North West on the culinary map

and is confident his cheeky take on the brief is a winner.

-How are we doing, Matt?

-Ready to go.

-So, tell me the inspiration for the whole menu.

-This is my granny.

-OK.

-She was in the WI for ten years.

My fondest memories were cooking with me grandma in her kitchen

and that's what I've based the whole theme around - me grandmother.

What's this dish called?

-Game Old Birds. I've based it around the Calendar Girls.

-OK.

-So it's...

-You're not going to strip off, are you?

-No, I'm not.

That'll get you extra points. HE LAUGHS

Give me a point, I'll do what you want.

-So I've used British partridge.

-OK.

I'm going to slowly roast the breasts and then the legs,

I'm going to braise them down and mix it with some lovely

back bacon, some Savoy cabbage. I'm going to make a bread sauce.

Partridge with bread sauce, it's a classic combination,

but done right, brought up-to-date, I think it could be a winner.

I've used some blackberries so I'm going to salt some of these

-so they're not too sweet.

-OK.

-I'm going to make a blackberry caviar.

That's something that Mark would probably do over there.

I think that's a risky thing to do.

Talking from experience.

I think you have to push yourself

and that's what I've done this time to make a decent dish, hopefully.

-Well, good luck.

-Thank you very much.

My first instinct is it could be quite heavy.

Lots of elements there are rich.

I'm interested to see how he's going to make that a lot lighter.

Last up is another chef making their debut in the competition.

Award-winning exec chef Eve Townson.

Inspired by strong British women,

Eve's adamant a woman should cook for the WI banquet.

-Hello, Eve, how are you?

-I'll feel OK when I start cooking.

So, tell me the inspiration for your menu, first of all.

I based it predominantly on Lancashire and Lancashire produce.

-Lovely.

-Strong women in my life.

So what's the starter based on? What's the inspiration behind it?

Well, it's called Winnie's Chicken.

This is a picture of Winnie Swarbrick

from her poultry farm in Goosnargh, which is...

I know it very well.

..in the great Lancashire county

and Winnie was an avid member of the WI throughout her many years,

so hopefully I'll do her proud with this dish.

So I'm going to use the corn-fed chicken from Goosnargh.

I'm going to use the legs.

I'm going to confit it down, croquette it

and then I'm going to make a beetroot ketchup.

So it'll be like a really juicy kind of nugget.

Yeah, that's the intention.

Then the ketchup's going to cook through.

Yeah, and then I'm going to pickle some of these vegetables

and make some Lancashire hard.

-OK.

-It was a bit of a wartime classic.

It's a bit like an oatcake.

Mine's going to be a little bit softer and a bit more buttery.

So the guys have gone for

lots more elements and more

cheffy things where Eve's dish of

the chicken nugget, for a better word,

and the ketchup sounds simplest.

But it could pack the biggest punch.

The other two boys are doing birds as well,

so how do you feel about your dish standing out to theirs?

May the best bird win.

THEY LAUGH

As cooking begins,

returning contender Mark is weighing up the competition.

Both your menus seem quite heavy to me.

Is that something that you're worried about?

No, wait till you see it.

You'll be suitably impressed with how light it is.

All three chefs are using birds in their starters,

although controversially, Mark's is imported from France.

For the chicken croquette element of her dish, Winnie's Chicken,

in honour of a Lancashire poultry farmer,

Eve is confiting chicken legs which she'll season with chives,

parsley, tarragon and coarse grain mustard.

-You've got a few pans on there, Eve.

-I've got a few things to cook.

-Are you going to have time to get it all done?

-Yeah, definitely.

With a menu inspired by his late grandmother,

Matt's braising partridge leg in stock for the Savoy-wrapped

ballotine of his Game Old Birds dish.

Me granny, she's staring down, looking at you,

giving the evil eye, so I hope you're worried.

Despite simplifying his approach this year,

returning chef Mark is still taking a big risk,

making what looks like a traditional cooked breakfast

from French squab pigeon.

He makes sausages by mixing the thigh meat with apple

and brining the breast to make bacon.

Mark's deconstructed breakfast - how that's going to work,

I've got no idea.

Is it a gimmick or is it proper food?

But his most controversial element is a twist on scrambled egg

made entirely from Jerusalem artichoke.

SAT BAINS: You've got to explain this to me cos I'm still confused.

It's a pickled artichoke, so I'm going to dice them all up,

cook them all in chicken stock, then I'm going to take half out,

add cream to the pan, puree what's left in the pan

and then add that back to the artichokes.

And it looks like scrambled egg.

So when you said you were going back to basics, this is it?

Erm, yeah.

'I just can't get my head around it. It's going to be

'looking like scrambled egg but not taste like scrambled egg.'

Why not just do scrambled egg?

Mark Ellis is head chef at 1851 Restaurant

at Peckforton Castle in Cheshire.

Accustomed to the standard and pace of Michelin-starred kitchens,

Mark's done a stint for Gordon Ramsay.

After flopping last year, I'm really, really hungry for this, this year.

I really feel like I've got a point to prove.

Mark is back with a fresh attitude and a brand-new approach.

This year, my food's going to be all about really good cooking.

Obviously they're going to have a little bit of a twist to them,

but not so much of the modernist techniques this year.

Sort of go back to basics, really, and go back to my roots.

'Keen to get to the heart of what the WI stands for, Mark met

'with Barbara, president of the local group in Bunbury.'

WI has that ethic of saving and conserving things, not wasting.

This is the WI recipe book going back to 1935.

There's an awful lot in there that's reminiscent of days past

but also used in present-day cooking.

Oh, that's fabulous.

Mark is keen for Barbara to road-test his controversial

eggless scrambled egg.

Jerusalem artichoke is lovely.

Eggs can sometimes can sometimes be a bit claggy,

but that's fresh in your mouth.

I've never had it served like that before, but it really is lovely.

Back in the kitchen, Mark is making his own butter,

but old habits die hard.

He's flavouring it with smoke oil.

Sat asked if I'd learnt from my mistakes last year

and there's still that element of twisty-turny humour there,

but I think I've learnt my lesson.

Also feeling the heat is newcomer Matt.

He's hoping to refine humble bread sauce - a classic accompaniment

to partridge - by infusing milk with onion,

bay leaf and spices, adding white bread, then blending until smooth.

So, Matt, talk to me about the bread sauce

cos I can just envisage lumpy bread sauce.

Obviously, it's a homage to Gran.

So I wanted to use the flavour, but try make it a bit more refined,

a bit more gastronomic, so I'm just going to pass it,

make it a lot smoother.

Still can't get my head around whether it's a starter

or a miniature main course.

All the elements scream main course.

Matt's also injecting a contemporary twist,

making caviar out of blackberries using spherification.

Quite risky coming on Great British Menu

and doing a lot of modernist cooking.

I'm trying to push the boundaries a bit more rather than play it safe.

Matt drips his blackberry,

thyme and lemon-infused puree into cold oil to form blackberry caviar.

To watch Matt is to kind of watch myself at this time last year,

I think. Matt's put a lot of pressure on himself. How's it worked out?

-Good, I think.

-Yeah, not rubbery?

-I think it's about right, yeah.

Matt Worswick is executive chef at Thornton Hall in Cheshire.

Having trained in a two Michelin-starred kitchen,

Matt headed up a starred kitchen himself at just 26.

I would say my style of cooking is bold.

I like to use seasonal ingredients and probably, most of all,

flavoursome food.

The motivation behind Matt's menu comes from someone very close

to his heart.

My main inspiration is me grandmother.

She used to bake cakes and crumbles and everything.

She was a massive part of the WI in her village, but unfortunately

she passed away a couple of months ago

so that's going to be the driving force.

I've got a lot to live up to, but I'm really going to try me best

and hopefully it'll be good enough.

Keen to capture the pioneering side of the WI, Matt met Tricia Stewart.

As a Calendar Girl, she's helped raise over £3 million for charity.

-Every year, WI do a traditional calendar.

-Yeah.

And this particular year, I just said,

"We could do an alternative WI calendar."

"Feature the crafts of WI, but in the nude."

So tell me who played you in the movie?

-Helen Mirren.

-Really?

Yeah, cut her teeth on me and went on to play the Queen.

How interesting!

Matt wants to see if he can impress Tricia with his dish -

Game Old Birds.

-Mmm...delicious.

-Yeah, you like it?

-Lovely.

-That's great.

Thank God for that, I was really nervous.

-Best of luck.

-Thank you very much.

I'll be thinking of the Calendar Girls when I'm doing it,

sort of spurring me on.

-Yeah, chuckling to yourself.

-Yeah, I will.

Back in the kitchen, while Matt's finishing his gravy,

Eve is making ketchup to go with her chicken croquette.

But unusually, she's using beetroot, which she's cooked down

with vinegar, sugar and spices before pureeing.

Eve, how are we doing?

-OK, I think.

-You don't know?

-SHE LAUGHS

-I think.

-So, tell me what you've got here.

-This is going to be my ketchup.

Is it going to be refined nuggets and ketchup? Are you going to elevate it?

Yeah, the presentation is going to be a bit more refined.

The ketchup with the beetroot is a bit lumpy, a bit grainy,

so I'm wondering if she's going to pass that again,

because a ketchup hasn't got any texture, it's smooth.

Lancashire-born Eve Townson has been cooking for over 18 years

and is now executive chef at the award-winning

Eagle & Child pub in Ramsbottom.

My cooking style is...probably modern British would be the best way

to describe it.

I like to put a twist on old dishes, all the classics.

Although Eve is the only woman competing for the North West,

she's determined to give the boys a run for their money.

Yeah, I'm competitive when it comes to blokes.

There wasn't many girls when I was on my way up the ranks

so the other two might see me as the underdog,

but hopefully I'll show them a thing or two.

As a child, Eve spent a lot of time in the kitchen with her mum.

A lot of my dishes are Lancashire and obviously based it on

strong women that have been quite influential on me.

Obviously you, Mum.

My dishes would be what my mother made

and then I would tweak it slightly as you've tweaked mine.

Eve wanted to try out the chicken croquette on her mum,

husband Brian and son Arthur.

-I could eat another one of those.

-You enjoyed that, didn't you?

He certainly did.

Back in the kitchen, Eve is finishing pickling her vegetables.

But the pressure is really on for newcomer Matt as he's first

to plate up his starter.

I think you've got the worst straw - plating first.

Somebody's got to go first, haven't they, I suppose.

With six complex elements to his dish, time is not on his side.

-You finished the spherification yet, Matt?

-I have.

-How's it worked out?

I'm not going to call it yet, it's up to the big man,

but hopefully he says it's right.

Matt's braised partridge leg needs to be delicately

wrapped in Savoy cabbage before slicing into portions.

As it's lean and easily overcooked,

he has to get his timing for the partridge breast spot on.

Matt, you're first, how are we getting on?

I'll be two minutes, Chef.

First, Matt's refined version of a traditional bread sauce.

Then on with his Game Old Birds -

the cabbage-wrapped partridge ballotine

and the pan-fried breast - garnished with salted blackberries,

blackberry caviar, and lastly, partridge gravy.

OK, so let's see what we've got.

This dish is called Game Old Birds.

-Well, I think we should have a taste.

-Sure.

-Let's go.

-Shall we lift it out the box?

-Yes, please.

I like the box.

Game Old Birds.

Is that cooked to your liking?

I think if it's too pink it can be quite stringy.

Breast's a little bit on the tough side for me.

-I do agree that it's a bit tough.

-A bit chewy, isn't it?

Maybe it's just an old bird.

THEY LAUGH

Have a taste of the bread sauce. What do you think to that?

I think you get the flavours

that you would associate with bread sauce.

I don't think it's too heavy on the palate.

Yeah, bread sauce is nice. Think he's really nailed that one.

Do you think the caviar has worked?

Has it added the acidity you're after?

I think it cuts through the richness of the bread sauce and the breast.

I don't think the blackberries quite cut through enough.

If you were to score yourself out of ten, what would you give yourself?

I'd hopefully get a seven/eight.

I think me grandmother would be pretty happy with it.

The bread sauce I'd have given a ten.

But the tough breast - that just let it down, actually.

-I might go a seven.

-I'd probably give it a six.

-How are we doing?

-All right. How are you?

-OK, how are you?

-Glad to get that out the way, to be honest with you.

-Yeah?

It's tough being first up, but I'm glad it's done now.

How are you getting on?

I'm actually... Time has just totally run away from me.

Eve, how are we getting on? We've got about a minute and a half.

-My hard's just a few minutes in the oven.

-What, as in cooking?

-Yeah, cooking.

-If you need a hand, chef, just give us a shout.

-I'm more than willing to give you a hand.

-Thank you.

Eve's up next with her Winnie's Chicken which includes

Lancashire oatcakes known as hard.

But with only a minute to the pass, the hard is still not cooked

and she's under pressure.

-Eve, is it OK?

-It'll be ready just as I'm going.

First on the plate is the beetroot ketchup

and pickled vegetables, celebrating the preserving heritage of the WI.

-You're three minutes over now, Eve.

-OK, Chef, 30 seconds it'll be up.

OK, cool.

Next is the croquettes made from spiced confit chicken legs.

-I'll get your hards out for you.

-Yes, please.

And lastly, straight out of the oven, the Lancashire hard.

The dish is served with a card about the late Winnie Swarbrick -

a renowned Lancashire poultry farmer and WI stalwart.

-What's the dish called, please?

-The dish is called Winnie's Chicken.

-And are you happy with it?

-Erm...yeah.

-Yes.

-That didn't sound too confident.

-Yes, I am.

-Colourful.

-Looks good.

As a dish going to a banquet, do you think this is celebratory enough?

Bright colours, clean sort of flavours,

and yeah, it's a celebration of Winnie, the WI and great produce.

I think it's a colourful plate of food.

I can't really see the brief on the plate.

-Are you happy with the croquette?

-Mm.

-Do you think it's seasoned enough?

Yeah, I think it's well seasoned.

The chicken is beautifully cooked.

I think there's too much mustard in there for the chicken.

Do you think the ketchup is smooth enough?

It probably could've gone in the thermal slightly longer.

It's not as smooth as I'd like it to be.

I think it should be smoother, certainly, if it's a ketchup.

-And this is the hard, isn't it?

-It is, yeah.

Is it cooked enough for you?

I think it probably could've done with another minute or two.

I'm quite keen to try this. I've not had it before.

I won't be having it again.

What would you give yourself out of ten?

I'd probably give myself...maybe an eight or a nine.

-I would give this dish a six.

-I'm going to give it a five.

There's too many things on the plate that aren't quite right.

-Has this got you worried?

-No.

-Hey, darling. How was it?

-I'm so glad it's over. Oh, my God.

-It's hard, isn't it?

-Yeah, it is.

And you've just no idea what they're thinking.

Last to plate up his ambitious starter is Mark

with his playful take on a Jam And Jerusalem Breakfast.

He starts by pan-frying his squab pigeon bacon

and browning his pigeon sausages.

-Where's your pigeon from?

-It's Anjou pigeon, so it's French.

-French?!

Mark's serving the pigeon with toasted soda bread,

smoked butter and a blackberry and apple jam.

-Did you say you'd made your own butter?

-Yeah.

Finally, his controversial scrambled egg

made entirely from Jerusalem artichokes.

-Nice colour for an egg.

-They're free-range.

-Aah!

English or French eggs, Mark?

-Are you trying to wind me up?

-Oh, no.

-Are you trying to put me off?

Mark, how are we doing?

Ready, chef.

Wow. Good timing, let's go.

Explain it to us, please.

Chef, this is my take on a playful breakfast.

Cute breakfast - everything's petite.

So, as the first course is a starter, having a breakfast,

do you think that's a bit strange?

We start the day with breakfast,

why not start the WI Centenary banquet with one?

A lot of work's gone into it.

Made his own sausage, made his own butter.

We never asked him if he'd sewn his own tablecloth.

So this is the scrambled egg?

In inverted commas, Chef, yeah.

I don't know what to expect with this...

Are you happy with that?

It's what I wanted.

It's quite sweet.

I was just going to say there's something sweet in it.

If you were to score your own dish, what would you give this?

On reflection from last year, I'm going to be quite conservative

so I'll probably give that dish a six.

I think the pigeon is lovely. All the elements are sound.

-I think it's just two separate dishes.

-Mm.

I'll have to give him a seven.

How did it go?

I've got visions of poor scores been given out last year

-and the nerves have just taken over now.

-See what happens, I suppose.

Yeah, try not to cry.

Hello, chefs. First course done, how do you feel?

Exhausted.

OK, so I want to start with you, Matt,

and your dish of Game Old Birds.

The reference to the Calendar Girls I thought was great.

And like your grandma's bread sauce, yours was smooth and beautiful.

The blackberry caviar worked.

But...

..the partridge breast was a little overcooked for me.

It was also a little bit under seasoned.

Eve, your starter was Winnie's Chicken.

I love that you honoured Winnie for her WI roots.

The chicken croquette was moist and well seasoned.

But...

..the ketchup could've been a lot smoother.

The Lancashire hard was undercooked.

The dish was not refined enough for a banquet.

Mark, your Jam And Jerusalem Breakfast...

The jam, butter and toast worked brilliantly,

the pigeon bacon was pink and juicy,

and the Jerusalem artichoke scrambled eggs looked like scrambled eggs.

But...

..you'd worked so hard to get the jam and the Jerusalem onto the plate

that you forgot how the dish would taste together.

I felt like it was two separate dishes.

It didn't work for me at all.

So to the scores...

Matt...

..I'm giving you a seven.

Eve...

..I'm giving you a five.

Mark...

..I'm giving you a five.

Fish course next, guys. So heads down and focus.

I want to give some great points, but I want great food.

Seven's OK.

I probably would've got a clip round the ear from me grandma saying,

"Do better next time."

You're in the lead.

Even though I am two points ahead,

I do want better scores than seven, so I'm going to focus all me

attention on the fish course and really push to get a good score.

I need to show him that I am a refined chef.

I'm absolutely gutted that I've made these mistakes

and obviously it's cost me, but I'm glad that Mark also got a low score

cos it kind of puts me in a more level playing field.

Disappointing, but it's not my strongest dish either, so...

I wanted to get off to a better start than that.

It feels a bit like deja vu from last year, so it's going to be

heads down and try and improve on that going forward.