North West Starter Great British Menu

This year on Great British Menu...

Slightly nervous of you with that saw.

Oh...

..the chefs are competing to become ambassadors

for contemporary British cooking.

He did say modern, Chef. Yeah. Come on, baby. Come on, baby.

The pressure in the kitchen is ridiculous.

It's easy. It's only cooking.

In the year the nation celebrated the Queen's 90th birthday,

the chefs are paying tribute to the everyday great Britons

she's honoured for their extraordinary achievements.

The prize - to cook at the ultimate banquet,

held at the country's most iconic building -

the Palace of Westminster.

Here, the chefs must showcase the coming of age of British cuisine.

Going for gold all the way, mate.

But first our eager newcomers...

No! I'm here to get a dish to the banquet.

I'm gunning for a ten. This one's going to smack him in the chops,

I reckon. It's anyone's game, really.

And returning chefs...

Ha-ha! I'm feeling the pressure.

..have to impress our formidable team of veterans...

Oh, you're joking. Stressful, isn't it?

..who are expecting nothing but perfection.

It was pretty much faultless.

I'm sure he's talking about me.

It was amazing.

That was a stunning dish.

One little mistake... Wow.

..could be catastrophic.

This year, our chefs have travelled the UK

to meet the everyday British people

who've made a remarkable difference...

Put it in the oven!

..to their country and to their local communities.

Man overboard!

Since her coronation in 1953,

thousands of people have been given honours by the Queen.

Lucky enough to meet the Queen. You must be really proud. I am.

I received a British Empire Medal. Wow.

Taking inspiration from these great Britons,

the chefs must celebrate the evolution of British food

during the Queen's reign.

I can't criticise this dish.

Their challenge - to present a legacy...

Look at you. ..of this new Elizabethan age.

This week, competing to represent the Northwest...

Matt Worswick, the reigning regional champion.

Competition's always tough,

but this year I want to get all the way to the banquet.

Kim Woodward, the Savoy Grill's first-ever female head chef.

I've already made history in my career.

Now it's time to stand out in the competition,

and take my dishes all the way to the finals.

And Adam Reid, a protege of former GBM winner Simon Rogan.

I cook at the highest level every day,

and I want to prove that my food can get me through to the banquet.

Judging this week is one of Britain's most revered chefs.

I've been here before.

How are you guys feeling? Are you ready? It's daunting, isn't it?

A former banquet winner...

It's not like a normal kitchen.

The pressure is really, really hard.

Kim, are you worried that Matt's been here already?

Not worried at all.

..who's held two Michelin stars for almost 20 years.

Phil Howard.

Morning, chefs. Morning.

How are we? Nervous, now.

So, Matt, made it to the final last year.

Are you ready to try and trump that performance?

I need to try and impress you this week. So the pressure's on now.

Good, good. Kim, made big history in your current position -

a phenomenal achievement. Thank you.

Are you confident that you're going to have a similar impact in the

competition this year? Absolutely. I look forward to it. Thank you.

Adam, worked and trained under Simon Rogan.

Are you confident to do justice to him?

Yeah, and hopefully I can emulate his success.

Good luck. Thank you.

I feel a bit sick.

First is Matt Worswick.

He almost made it to last year's banquet,

when his fish course was shortlisted in the finals.

I see you've got your leather armour on.

I got it made especially for this occasion, so...

You must feel one up on the others,

at least, because you're back in your comfort zone.

Yeah, I've been here before. So, hopefully, that gives me the edge.

What's the story behind your whole menu?

So I wanted to showcase classic British nostalgic dishes,

and bring them up to date with a fun, modern interpretation,

using the finest of British ingredients.

So this dish is liver and onions.

This evokes a sense of nostalgia for me. I grew up on this.

So I've got some lovely ox liver.

I'm going to cook that sous-vide then I'm going to blowtorch it,

so you still get the roasted flavour

but it's a lot more precise with the cooking.

I'm going to use some bone marrow,

I'm going to make a beef gravy. Some onions, by the looks of things.

Plenty of onions. Absolutely. Red onions, where are they going?

I'm just going to roast these in a bit of beef marrow fat,

nice and caramelised.

I'm going to do some crispy shallots as well, plenty of texture.

Maris Piper potatoes to make a really decadent mashed potato,

but not the lumpy one that me mam used to make...

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nice and refined, that's the idea.

I look forward to seeing it. Good luck. Thanks very much.

Matt's liver and onions is a classic dish.

I'm just not sure it can be transformed

into something contemporary.

Is he actually going to be able to produce a dish that's worthy

of a first course in a banquet?

That's the big question.

Next is Kim Woodward,

a newcomer to the kitchen with an exotic box of ingredients.

Morning, Kim. Morning.

You good? Great.

Let's hear about the whole menu.

I've put together four courses that will give you the impact

of what Britain and its great Britons have shown

over the years of the Queen's lifetime.

Great-looking box of goodies. So the starter is called the BOT.

This is the British Overseas Territories

that the Queen is head of state to. Where are we talking?

We're talking around about the Caribbean,

so we're talking about the Cayman Islands, Bermuda...

Certainly exotic. Yes.

So what I'm going to do is start off

with a langoustine broth with some fresh ginger, some sugar cane,

and the king crab legs are going to be used as the garnish in the bowl.

The langoustine broth will be poured all over it.

The sea trout will be curing in rum, sugar and time.

I'm making a hummus with coconut milk

and then using some seaweeds around.

OK.

How are you going to get coffee into this starter?

The coffee gives a nice element to the langoustine broth.

It actually balances the sweetness of it.

OK. That's interesting.

Matt, you've got ox liver, Kim's got king crab legs.

When you've got something like that to work with,

it's always a head start. Does that put the fear in you?

All those flavours to liaise together,

it's going to take a lot of skill.

I'm very excited to see what Kim comes up with.

Me too. Good luck. Thank you.

Kim's got some phenomenal ingredients there.

Luxurious, exotic king crab legs - you don't get better than that.

And I'm really expecting her to

produce something fantastic with them.

Finally, it's Adam Reid,

another first-timer who's out to make a great impression.

Morning, Adam. How are you doing?

Very good, chef. Lots of spices.

Well, the starter, yeah, it's called From Pakoras to the Palace.

The inspiration was taken

from a family friend, called Laila Remtulla,

who's been awarded an MBE for services to the food industry.

Important-looking lady.

Yeah, absolutely. She started off cooking the elements that I've taken

for this dish from her kitchen at home.

She has African and Indian heritage.

So it's basically composed of three snacks.

Each one's going to be served with its own accompaniments.

There's going to be a little samosa on there.

The filling is going to be spiced cabbages.

It's going to be bound with some goat's curd.

Some pakoras, made with seafood.

So you've got some lovely langoustines, diver-caught scallops,

and there'll be some Morecambe Bay brown shrimps in there as well.

Fantastic. The third element is a lamb bateta champ.

A lamb what?

Bateta champ. It's basically lamb, minced, spiced and flavoured,

and they're going to be deep-fried.

It all sounds, you know, different, interesting. Good luck.

Adam's From Pakoras to the Palace -

effectively it's a trio of canapes.

I've eaten Simon Rogan's canapes. Adam is his protege.

I think they are, without a doubt,

the best canapes produced in the country,

so I've got great expectations from this dish.

As they get to work on their starters,

the hot topic in the kitchen is this year's challenge.

I looked at the brief and I knew immediately what I wanted to do.

So, you seem quite confident about the brief, the starter?

That's the trick, isn't it?

Act confident and everything else will come with it.

The thing with my dish is that it's very, very British but, you know,

the task that I've got is to make it gastronomic.

There's a lot of processes in it.

Yeah. I'm a bit under the cosh at the moment,

to be honest with you, so...

Does that mean shut up? Yeah. Pretty much, yeah.

Matt's modern interpretation of the home-cooked classic liver and onions

is complex.

He blowtorches his ox liver...

..and then cooks it sous-vide along with the potatoes for his mash.

It's a really modest dish,

and I'm trying to incorporate

really modern techniques to bring it up to date.

That's why I'm running round sweating.

Matt Worswick is executive chef at Thornton Hall in Cheshire.

OK. Table five.

He gained his first Michelin star in his own right at just 26.

And, after getting all the way to last year's finals,

he's hoping to triumph again with dishes inspired by retro classics.

I developed my menu by trying to come up with a great British menu

for, I suppose, great British people.

Service!

If you can evoke memories in food, it becomes much more than food.

To reminisce about the home-cooked dishes he grew up with,

Matt went back to Liverpool to meet his uncle Terry,

who is also a chef and one of Matt's earliest inspirations.

I used to work away all the time, when I came home,

me mam used to make me liver and onions.

For me, the smell, the first smell of the onions,

you know you're going to get liver and onions.

When you walk into the house, you think, "Ahh, I'm home."

But I'm going to try and recreate that sense of nostalgia

with my liver and onions.

So if you want to come and try it.

I won't pull any punches. THEY LAUGH

What I needed to do is make my dish

taste exactly the same, if not better, than the original.

I'm walking through the door.

It's great.

Thank you very much. Fantastic.

You've done it. That's a load off.

THEY LAUGH

There's only two things missing.

Me mam and dad.

In the kitchen, Matt's working hard

to create layers of onion textures and flavours.

He adds shallot rings to a pickling mix with coriander and fennel seeds.

Then roasts baby red onions with bone marrow and thyme.

Next, he starts work on his crispy shallots, cooking them in butter,

and then he begins caramelising his slow-cooked onions.

You're looking a little bit out of control here - do you need a hand?

No, organised chaos.

Just got a lot to do, so I'll push myself as much as I can this time.

Liver and onions, how hard can it be?

That's why I'm trying to use every possible technique

to try and make it as refined as possible.

Adam is working on the delicate pastry for his samosas,

which has to be rolled, layered,

then baked before being used to enclose his cabbage filling.

It's made by cooking red and white cabbage with spices,

then combining the pickled mustard seeds and goat's curd.

I don't work in a curry house, so I don't usually make samosas,

but you've got to push yourself,

that's what the competition is about.

What are you most concerned about? Getting it done.

Adam Reid is the head chef at Simon Rogan's restaurant, the French,

in Manchester's historic Midland Hotel, which boasts a contemporary,

imaginative cooking style.

What I bring is enthusiasm, energy and the drive to get things right.

I don't accept anything less than the best.

Service.

Adam's starter is inspired by his family friend Laila...

Hello, Adam, how are you?

..who was awarded an MBE for services to food.

Laila started up her own company

40 years ago by selling home-made bhajis.

It must be nice recognition to say you've gone so far.

Yes. It is. Hard work pays.

And you have to believe in the things you do.

Adam wanted to get Laila's seal of approval for his samosas.

I can really taste the pickled mustard.

The mustard seed, yes. Really beautiful.

You are a clever one. I couldn't have done better than that.

Perfect.

Adam moves on to the filling for his bateta champ,

a popular East African snack

inspired by Leila's Tanzanian heritage.

What have you got in here?

It's basically fried mince and onions.

You've got lots of herbs in there.

We've got Leila's own garam masala mix.

Her family's secret recipe.

Can I have a taste? Absolutely.

This is going to be rolled up into a ball,

packed inside some potato, and then deep-fried.

So it is coming out like

a back to front Scotch egg without an egg in it.

Is there going to be enough refinement in there?

Yes, I think so, yeah. Crack on.

Also taking inspiration from overseas

is Adam's fellow newcomer Kim.

Her starter celebrates ingredients from

Britain's overseas territories in the Caribbean.

She's working on the lime and rum cure for her trout

and making a chickpea and coconut hummus,

which will be served in a langoustine broth.

Feels quite tense in the kitchen, I would say.

Especially for me and Adam - we're new at this.

And obviously Matt, I think he's flying, so, you know, good for him.

A protege of Gordon Ramsay,

Cheshire-born Kim Woodward is the first woman to head up the kitchen

of the prestigious Savoy Grill since it opened in 1889.

Two ham followed by one ham, one fish.

CHEFS SHOUT IN REPLY

I'm a female chef who's broken boundaries already,

and I want to bring that mind-set to the competition.

Kim must make sure the dishes

live up to the reputation of the historic restaurant

where she runs a team of 35 chefs.

So when I'm in the kitchen, everyone knows it.

Can you guys put some salt in here or what?

But even at the helm of one of London's most iconic establishments,

Kim hasn't forgotten her roots.

She returned to her home city of Crewe to pay a visit to

the catering college where her culinary journey began.

Being back has brought back amazing memories.

This is where I started, 18 years ago.

I knew back then the kitchen was for me.

Wanting to inspire a new generation,

Kim served up a sample of her starter

to the aspiring young chefs.

Yeah, it is real nice.

The trout and hummus are lovely, absolutely, so flavourful.

So, do you think I'm on to a winner?

Yes, absolutely delicious - good luck.

With plate-up fast approaching,

Kim's concentrating on her langoustine broth...

..which must be perfectly clarified and balanced in flavour

to meet Phil's exacting standards.

So this has the coffee, the ginger and the sugar cane,

with the langoustine bodies, a dash of rum.

Can I taste? Yes, go ahead.

So I plan to bring all the flavours of the Caribbean to this dish.

You're going to whisk me away to one of those delicious, exotic islands.

I hope so. Look forward to it.

Thank you.

Last year's finalist Matt is first to plate his modern reinvention

of the British classic liver and onions.

Determined to go a step further this year and cook at the banquet,

he's brought in a centrifuge to make his beef gravy.

The high-speed rotation

will clarify his veal and onion stock.

But there's a problem.

You all right, mate? It's BLEEP. It's not having it? Error.

Try plugging it in.

Matt is having a few issues with modern technology.

Bringing it into a pressurised environment.

I'm sure he will overcome it. I hope.

Maybe I don't hope.

Ha-ha! Yes!

Matt's back on track,

but he's still got lots of elements to bring together.

He finishes his crispy shallots...

and then chars his bone marrow.

Matt, are you blow torching everything for the dish?

A few of them, Chef.

I'm trying to incorporate the roasted taste right the way through.

Union flags cover dry ice and dehydrated burnt onions,

which will be activated at the table by pouring over jugs of beef gravy.

He pipes his mashed potato into bowls,

followed by caramelised onion...

..liver and gravy...

roasted baby red onions, pickled shallots,

charred bone marrow...

So, Matt, how are you looking? Are you ready?

Yes, I think I am, yes.

A few finishing touches now.

..and a generous garnish of crispy shallots.

Finally, Matt seasons with dehydrated onion ash.

You OK, do you need anything?

I need you to take one of the boxes up to the pass.

Made it to the finish line, Matt.

Yep.

For theatre and to produce an enticing aroma,

Matt pours the rest of the gravy into his boxes.

The smell of roasted onion, like when me mam used to make.

Guys, what do you think? Threatened?

No. It looks appetising. See what it tastes like.

Let's go and taste it, then.

What do you think, Kim?

It looks like a lot of onions.

OK, let's have a look at the liver.

You chose two very specific ways to cook the liver.

Firstly, the blowtorch.

Then in a water-bath.

Have they contributed significantly to the end result? I think so.

The liver, it's... It does melt in the mouth.

Yeah, I'm growing to like liver now I've tasted that.

It's a very good liver.

Used the sous-vide technique on the potatoes.

Has that achieved what you are hoping for?

Yes, nice and creamy, not lumpy.

The pickled onions hits me straightaway.

What about you? I've just got one of those

caramelised, roasted onions and they are delicious.

I just think that mash is a little bit heavy for a starter.

And the bone marrow has got sufficient presence?

I like the bone marrow on a dish

because it gives an element of the beef again.

- As an individual element, I don't really get the bone marrow.

Matt, give it a score. I'd be happy with anything above a seven.

OK.

Kim is next up to the pass with her complex starter,

celebrating the wealth of exotic ingredients

from the British Overseas Territories.

How are we doing?

How was it? I don't know.

What did you think? I thought it was lovely, mate.

Really delicious. How are you doing, Kim?

I feel like I'm all over the place.

Kim still has to make her chickpea crackers.

She blends some of the rum

and coffee-flavoured langoustine broth

with chickpea and cornflour, ground coriander and cumin.

Then Kim ladles the mix into small pans.

But the crackers aren't crisping up.

If I can't get these crackers perfect, I won't be serving them.

I just need it super, super hot.

I'm just going to keep trying.

Have you sorted your crackers? Yeah.

Are you on time?

I think so.

Oi! Calm down, it's not that bad!

Next, Kim prepares her coconut hummus.

It's first into her bowls, intended to represent a Caribbean seabed,

along with seaweed.

Then she plates the rum-cured sea trout,

king crab meat and the sea vegetables,

followed by the problematic chickpea crackers.

Good there, Kim, do you need anything doing?

No, I don't need your help.

Next, sweet potato crisps,

deep-fried chickpeas and coconut shavings.

Kim places her bowls on sandy beach trays.

The island feel, what the BOT is all about.

Finally she pours her langoustine broth into bottles.

Have you got a message to put into that bottle?

Yeah, not a lot of people know what the BOT is.

I've actually done a little description.

BOT.

MATT: It looks great. Yeah, it looks really pretty.

Let's go and try.

OK, BOT.

So this dish brings together ingredients

from the 14 British Overseas Territories.

- They all share the same head of state, the Queen.

- I presume this is just to get poured?

Yep, just in the bottom there.

It's a soup, so I presume you fill it up.

You've got coffee, coconut, sugar cane.

Has that given you the flavour you were looking for?

For me, it's come out as a nice balance.

It's quite bitter, is that a note from the coffee?

I don't know whether it is,

but there's definitely some bitterness in there.

This, I think, is a chickpea-based cracker.

Yes, that's what I've done. I wanted that crunch.

Are you happy with the hummus?

I think it's a great little boost for the whole dish.

Once it is mixed with the consomme, almost like a muddy water.

King crab legs.

Have you done them proud?

Yeah, I didn't want to do too much to them.

I like them to show off themselves.

I think you lose the crab a little bit. Yeah.

Let's have a mark.

I think I would give myself between seven and eight.

OK.

Adam is last up to the pass with his starter From Pakoras to the Palace.

Hey, guys. How was that?

Yeah, I'm happy. I mean, there's always room for improvement.

Adam makes his pakoras by mixing diced langoustine tails,

scallops and browned shrimp with chilli, coriander,

onion and a paste of coriander, chilli and garlic.

He then deep-fries them.

So, Adam, are you ready? Yes.

As I'll ever be.

Whether my food is refined enough for Phil, only time will tell.

Adam finishes his bateta champ,

coating the balls of spiced minced lamb with mashed potato,

before pane-ing in flour, egg and semolina, and deep-frying.

He shallow fries the spiced cabbage and goat's curd samosas,

before decorating his traditional Indian tiffin boxes with flowers.

So, Adam, are you about ready? Yes, we're looking good.

Adam puts dates, poached in tamarind,

into dishes to serve with his samosas.

Next, he add saffron-infused cultured cream

with chopped anise hyssop, parsley and mint,

to eat with the bateta champ.

Finally, a chilli-tomato dressing for the pakoras.

Adam's presentation is complete.

How do you guys feel?

It looks exciting. Can't wait to try. Very colourful.

Absolutely. Let's go.

I think the idea of the snacks is quite fun.

- This is a samosa.

Nice crunch on the outside, beautiful.

I think it is quite mild.

The combination of the cabbage and the spices,

the balance is what you were after?

Yes, it's got lots of flavour in there,

you've got the goat's curd

in rather than paneer, which is a bit more intense.

Pakora with tomato...

Pakora, you've taken langoustines,

one of the greatest ingredients that this country has got to offer.

Have you done them justice?

I think they do the dish justice.

I think for a quality ingredient like scallop and langoustine,

it gets a bit lost.

So let's have a look at the bateta champ with cultured cream.

Fantastic combination, lamb and mint, you get it straightaway.

Last but not least, I want a mark.

At least a seven.

OK.

How was it? I think it went OK.

It will never be quite as perfect as you want it to be.

This year the competition is a lot tougher.

You want to get off to a good score.

One down, three to go.

So, Matt, we'll start with you and your liver and onions.

It's a classic thing, it's the kind of thing I like, we all like to eat.

Shallots were sweet, delicious, as were the onions.

Mash was rich, the gravy delivered.

The dry ice was a nice touch.

The negatives were that I just didn't feel

that all the technique that went in behind the scenes

delivered the result that you were hoping for.

And perhaps just in the presentation.

You just piled so many shallots and onions over the top

that you kind of lost that finesse.

Kim, your dish of British Overseas Territories,

the idea really worked well with the brief.

Trout can be a bit lacklustre and unexciting.

The curing worked well with that.

Some great texture in the dish, the crisps and the crackers, loved them.

But what I found frustrating was that I wanted to indulge

in the king crab leg. You should have left it as a larger piece.

I felt the flavour of the langoustine broth

was a little bit confused.

I liked the chickpeas in the dish, but the problem with the puree -

you'd gone to all the lengths of making the consomme,

but inevitably you end up with a slightly unattractive,

sort of cloudy liquid at the bottom of the bowl.

Adam, your dish From Pakoras to the Palace.

With the pakora you've chosen

to put these phenomenal ingredients in there,

and somehow, it just didn't deliver

what a langoustine and a scallop could.

I would throw in some crab, too,

which would just deliver the flavour a little bit more.

The truth was that it was a fun thing to eat.

Well executed, brief-led, fun cooking.

Well done. Thank you.

For the scores...

Matt...

..I'm going to give you a score

of seven.

Kim...

I'm going to give you a score

of six.

Adam...

I'm going to give you a score

..of eight. Well done.

Everything to play for.

Looking forward to seeing what you've got to deliver.

Well done. Well done.

Disappointing, obviously.

It just means I have to bring it

for the next couple of courses coming up.

The amount of running around I did, I'm happy with a seven.

I was hard pushed to get it finished in time,

so seven is a decent score.

Took a big risk and it came off.

I'm ecstatic. It could have gone either way.

But obviously Phil liked it, gave me an eight, and I'm over the moon.

BBC Radio 2 Live In Hyde Park.