North West Judging Great British Menu

It's the day of reckoning, as last year's north-west champion,

Matt Worswick...

Got to go into today, hoping that you're going to absolutely smash it.

..takes on Simon Rogan's protege, Adam Reid.

I'm going straight in for the wow factor with this.

..for a place in the national finals.

Think you need to step your game up? I'm pushing meself 100%.

The ultimate goal - to get a dish on the menu of an historic banquet,

celebrating the everyday great Britons honoured by the Queen

throughout her 64-year reign...

..to be held at the Palace of Westminster.

In a closely-fought competition,

both chefs ended the week on exactly the same score.

I think they're two very exciting chefs,

and they're exciting for the future of British cooking.

But only the best chef will go through to the finals.

The winner is...

Newcomer, Adam Reid, has had a consistent week,

and knows only perfect dishes will keep him in the competition.

I can't explain how much I want this today.

If I don't perform, then I'm the one going home.

Good luck. Good luck, Matt.

As reigning north-west regional champion,

Matt's hoping to have the edge over Adam.

I've been there before.

Hopefully I can use that experience, and pip him to the post.

The pressure on myself is massive.

I really want to get to the finals again.

Judges, Prue Leith, Oliver Peyton, and Matthew Fort,

are expecting excellence.

Really nice to see Matt Worswick back, isn't it?

You remember he got to finals week last time,

but then we thought he needed more finesse.

Well, I really like Matt's cooking for us,

and I'm dying to see how he's improved from the last time.

Adam, who is from the school of Simon Rogan, thoroughly modern cook.

I just look at those dish titles. I smell competition there.

Matt, Adam, good morning. Morning. Hello.

Well, Matt, it's really good to see you back. It's good to be back.

It's been a tough week. Exciting.

I must be a glutton for punishment, I think, to be back again.

We need a few tens. I'd be happy with a few tens.

If you give them to us, that'd be great.

Well, Adam, you haven't been here before, your first time.

How's it been? Even tougher than I expected it was going to be.

It's been easy so far, let me tell you.

It's going to get a lot, lot harder today,

so very good luck to you both.

Thank you very much. Thank you very much.

Matt is first to plate up his starter - liver and onions.

His menu is all about reinventing British classics,

modernising by using contemporary cooking techniques and presentation.

Veteran judge Phil Howard thought the dish would benefit from

a more classical cooking style, scoring it seven.

Phil said a few things about using the blowtorch too much,

so changed the way I'm cooking the liver.

Just trying to refine the dish a bit more,

and hopefully the judges will see that.

The chefs will also be marked by a guest judge, who understands

the revolution in British food during the Queen's reign.

Award-winning cook and food writer Lady Claire MacDonald

has an OBE for her services to the hospitality industry and to charity.

Claire. How do you do? Welcome to the judges' chamber.

Thank you so much.

This is Oliver. Hello, Oliver. And Matthew.

Thank you very much for joining us.

So, Claire, I think you've been in the food business almost as

long as I have. Very nearly. How did you start?

I came and did a week at the Prue Leith Cook School.

I shall take all the credit, then. Do!

Then I took over the reins at a hotel at Kinloch Lodge in Skye.

And you've written some really good cookbooks. Thank you, Prue.

Wonderful books.

We've spoken to the two chefs in the kitchen,

and they're clearly in a very competitive mood.

I think we're looking forward to some really great food,

and I hope you've brought your appetite with you.

Oh, Matthew, I have.

In the kitchen, Matt's finishing his ox liver on the stove.

He leaves it to rest while he puts mashed potato,

crispy shallots, and beef gravy into bowls,

followed by roasted red onions and sliced liver.

How's the liver come out, then? Yeah, I think it's pretty spot-on.

He then adds pickled shallot rings and

a sprinkling of dehydrated onion ash.

Phil was a bit concerned about the amount of onions.

Yeah, well, I put more liver on this time.

Yeah. So more liver, less onions.

Matt garnishes with mustard cress.

His starter is served in boxes with Union Flags.

The idea is to create a delicious aroma by pouring beef gravy

onto the dry ice below.

Sweating a bit? Yeah, it's hot in this kitchen.

LAUGHTER

The smell of onions is just so good.

It's aromatherapy.

It looked really good. Cooked the liver a bit different.

I thought it was pretty spot-on.

This is absolutely delicious. Oh, it is. Good liver? Quite pink.

Actually, really very pink.

I would have used venison liver or something,

which would have been milder, to start with. You're both wrong.

I'm just going to tell you that now,

because I think it's beautifully cooked.

I think his choice of ox is great. I love all the onions,

and the different flavours are just sensational.

One of the things about liver and onions - onions, actually,

should play second fiddle to the liver.

Here, the liver plays no fiddle at all.

That's a bit of an old-fashioned view.

Matt has hit the brief perfectly here.

I think it's wonderful,

but I'm not sure about it as a first course for a banquet.

Adam is up next, with his starter, From Pakoras To The Palace,

a trio of Indian- and East African-inspired canapes,

dedicated to his family friend,

Laila Remtulla MBE. Like Matt's dish, it scored seven in the week.

Changing anything today for your dish?

Phil mentioned that the pakora could be a little less spicy,

a little bit more fishy, so I've stuck a bit of crab in there

to really emphasise this is a seafood pakora.

Adam shallow fries his spiced cabbage and goat's curd samosas...

You going to be ready? Oui, chef. Oui, chef.

..then finishes off his bateta champ, balls of spiced minced lamb

in a mashed potato coating, that he deep fries.

Adam decorates his traditional Indian tiffin boxes with flowers,

and adds pots of tamarind-poached dates,

saffron-infused cultured cream, and chilli tomato dressing.

Finally, he serves his bateta champ, samosa, and pakora.

MATT LAUGHS

It's tiffin time.

They're pretty. This is such a nice tiffin box.

The neat little nibbles at the bottom.

Oh, gosh. "From Pakoras to the Palace.

"Blackpool entrepreneur, Laila Remtulla's achievements have been

"honoured with an MBE for services to the food and drink industry."

Doesn't get any easier, does it?

Nope, probably gets a bit harder, but that's what today's about,

is pushing yourself.

I love the tiny sauces and the relish and the date.

You're just a sucker for a bit of presentation, that's all it is.

The samosa has the finest possible pastry on the outside, and it's got

a great filling, but I particularly love the tamarind date.

This is called bateta champ. Mm.

It's so good with the cultured cream with hyssop.

The pakora has a really potent flavour of seafood.

I've pushed the shellfish.

Phil saw that you need a bit of punch behind it, with flavour.

The spicing is beautifully judged. You can taste everything.

I'm struggling with this dish. It is not modern. It is traditional.

So you'd like to see a deconstructed samosa put back together again?

It's nice, but it's not gastronomical.

It's not fancy, it's not technical. Doesn't have magic, doesn't have...

It doesn't have dry ice.

It doesn't have dry ice. That's what you're really saying, isn't it?

Matt is first to serve his fish course,

a 21st century take on a prawn cocktail,

featuring langoustine, iceberg lettuce puree,

and a Marie Rose sauce frozen in liquid nitrogen.

Veteran Phil scored it eight points, but suggested some improvements.

I've taken on Phil's comments about the langoustines,

the rare texture of them, I'm going to cook them for a bit longer.

Do you think that's right? I'm not arguing with Big Phil!

ADAM LAUGHS

Matt brings out his psychedelic presentation.

He pipes his iceberg lettuce puree,

and tops with lemon-poached langoustine.

Next, iceberg lettuce and brown bread croutons.

Lettuce looks really different, Matt.

That looks LESS refined, if anything.

I wanted to give it more of a bite.

Phil said he wanted it to have a bit more presence on the plate.

Matt garnishes with cucumber flowers

and crushed nitro-frozen lemon segments.

Finally, he spoons over his Marie Rose sauce.

Quick as you can, please, when the Marie Rose is on.

Number two down.

Ooh, more flowers.

LAUGHTER "Prawn cocktail, 1960s.

"Nestling in the herbaceous border of unparalleled vulgarity

"is a prawn cocktail."

Phil obviously got it, that it was SUPPOSED to look a bit naff.

I don't think it could be interpreted any other way,

apart from naff and retro.

Hopefully, it shouts the brief, and what I wanted to achieve.

There's some cold, green stuff. That's iceberg lettuce puree.

Oh, right. Well, that's very nice.

I love langoustines. I think they're cooked well, the langoustines.

They're nearly all cooked well. I've got one that's a bit undercooked.

I thought the Marie Rose sauce was going to be frozen.

Did you have a frozen...? I did, but it melted pretty rapidly.

Do you like flower power?

I did, but I don't today.

The whole thing doesn't come together in any way.

Not so much Marie Rose as Marie Celeste.

It was an abomination in the '60s.

Adam's menu represents a modern take on well-loved British flavours.

His fish course, By The Seaside, features hake with batter scraps,

pickled cockles, and an aerated tartare sauce.

Veteran Phil marked it down,

for lacking the impact needed for a banquet.

Think you're going to get better than

a seven from what Phil gave you?

If I can show that it is a great dish,

and it does everything it needs to on the brief,

then hopefully the judges will look at it from

a slightly different aspect, and love it.

Adam deep fries his vinegar batter scraps.

He prepares his seaside presentation, complete with

a newspaper article, in tribute to the late Connie Brown MBE,

who ran a fish and chip shop well into her 90s.

Adam's salt-cured hake, poached in butter, is first on the plate,

followed by sea greens.

This is going to taste just as good as it did when Phil had it.

Just as good as a seven?

Adam adds pickled cockles, coated in malt vinegar gel,

a new element, to address Phil's criticism of a lack of vinegar.

Finally, his scraps...

..and aerated tartare sauce, to be added to the plate at the table.

Oh, this must be his great Briton. Connie Brown.

"Still frying at 100." We've got a bit of DIY to do here.

It's tartare sauce.

It's got thirst, it's going to open.

Hopefully, it just has that background flavour to step it

up a level.

Delicious hake. I've never had hake as good as this.

I'm astonished to have such wonderful hake.

But it's actually a very difficult fish to handle.

I think too much cooking and it goes to mush,

and he's actually caught it just right.

Perfect.

And I love the sea vegetables, too. They're just perfect.

Do you know...?

I love a pickled cockle. Mm.

The most delicious thing on the plate, though, are these scraps.

They are just wonderful. My scraps were better than they were for Phil.

Pushed that salt on them a little bit.

There's plenty more vinegar on the cockles.

I think I've ramped it up a level there.

To me, this is everything that his Indian-inspired starter is not.

There's lots of modern techniques going on here.

Lovely balance to it.

It satisfies in every way.

It absolutely echoes the salt and vinegar seaside flavours

we all know and love.

At the halfway point, Matt and Adam start cooking their main courses,

as the judges discuss the dishes so far.

I can see why Phil scored everything so highly.

They're both cooking really well, but they're both quite different.

Adam has a sort of narrative line running through his dishes,

whereas Matt has a historical line.

Yes, I do think the north-west has been done proud

so far by both Adam and Matt.

When it comes to scores, I have been scattering nines very liberally.

I've certainly given a nine, but I've gone down as far as a six.

I think they're two very exciting chefs,

and they're exciting for the future of British cooking.

Adam is first to serve his main course, Time For Tea, a reimagining

of the great British Sunday roast, with braised ox cheek,

sous-vide cooked beef sirloin fillets, and salt-baked vegetables.

I got an eight for it, which is a good score.

Phil had some reservations about the preparation and the cooking

of the beef. Hopefully, if I can just make sure it's as refined as it

possibly can be, the judges are going to appreciate where I'm

coming from and mark it really highly.

So I'm not ignoring him. I'm just not doing it.

Adam starts his vintage plates with cabbage cooked in butter,

honey-glazed parsnips, and turnip discs.

This is where you've got quite a bit going on.

Is it all sort of last-minute? Yep. Very last-minute.

Happy with everything?

Yep. Yeah?

Next, crushed carrots and beef dripping roast potatoes.

You need a hand with anything?

Do you want to just go and get my house for me?

He adds slices of beef sirloin.

Is that a bit of a risk for the banquet? Serving rare beef?

Don't think so.

I think it needs to be as rare as it possibly can be,

with such a well-aged piece of meat.

Adam finishes his plates with braised ox cheeks,

horseradish sauce, and turnip tops.

He pours barbecue beef broth into his teapot,

which will be presented inside his model house.

The beef gravy is served alongside the main dish on trays,

featuring Adam's family photos.

Just carry it gently. OK?

Drop her down.

I think we'd better see what's actually inside the house.

Oh! Oh!

If it is a tea, it's a beef tea. Shall I pour you a cup? Yes, please.

I love the family photographs.

This dish is all about being at home, with your family.

It's what great Britons do, historically,

throughout the reign of Elizabeth. The meat is pretty heavy-hitting.

It's delicious, and it has got a very good,

interesting flavour to it.

I expected more in flavour from the salt-baked swede and carrots.

For me, the joy of vegetables is the freshness of them.

That beef tea is absolutely delicious. Mm.

Well, if I was ill and I had a cup of this beef tea,

I'd live another decade.

Actually, I'd just be happy with that.

This is, essentially, an extremely conservative dish.

But on the other hand, doesn't it epitomise a family,

through generations, in Britain?

There isn't enough creativity.

There's too much tradition. There's not enough innovation.

Ultimately, do we really want a very small roast dinner for

a main course at a banquet?

Answer is no.

Matt's main course is a contemporary twist on coronation chicken,

a dish originally created for the Queen's coronation lunch in 1953.

It was his highest-scoring dish of the week.

You got a nine for your main course.

Phil obviously really, really liked it.

He didn't really like the texture of the confit leg,

so I've changed that, rolled it up, to give it a bit more texture,

and try and get a ten if I can.

Matt fries his new confit chicken rolls.

I've used the thigh meat instead of the whole leg, deboned it,

touch of curry spice. Almost like a chicken nugget, but...

Like a nugget! ..a posh one, so...

He starts his plates with butter milk gel, and mango salsa.

Next, rolled confit chicken thigh, and pickled golden sultanas,

chicken breasts topped with Bombay mix, and crispy chicken skin.

OK, let's go.

Finally, Matt crowns his royal dishes.

Happy? Yeah. Ten? I hope so.

CLAIRE LAUGHS The crowns for Queen Matthew.

I'm quite intrigued by this.

The colours when you look in are really quite, quite stunning.

They're either really going to love it,

or they're going to really, really hate it.

I think the Bombay mix, that he made himself, works so well,

texture wise.

You know, when I seen Bombay mix, I got a bit scared,

but in actual fact, you still get a lovely flavour off all the parts

of the chicken. I think the spicing is very well-balanced.

The mango salsa is... Delicious.

If you put on your fork a bit of absolutely everything,

it's a sort of explosion of heaven.

A tiny roll of chicken thigh at the side is delicious.

It is a more accurate reflection of the multicultural Britain

that we have now, than the original coronation chicken.

I think he's done something exceptional.

I can easily see this at a banquet.

Adam's dessert, Golden Empire, is a technically challenging dish,

featuring a golden sugar-blown apple,

with a hazelnut crumble, meadowsweet custard, and

apple compote filling, surrounded by Granny Smith granita snow.

It scored a nine from veteran Phil.

You know, I'm going straight in for the wow factor with this.

This is my big risky one.

Adam must create four perfect sugar-blown apples from his

golden fondant, which needs to be of the correct temperature.

Next, using a heated copper pipe, Adam makes holes for his filling.

But he loses an apple in the process. Adam, how's it going?

Smashing? Yeah, smashing.

Adam must quickly make a replacement.

With time slipping away, he works on his granny Smith granita snow,

freezing fresh apple juice with liquid nitrogen.

That looks very technical, very scientific.

It's a really quick way of making a granita, which is good.

I need a quick way right now.

Finally, the filling for Adam's apple - aerated custard,

flavoured with meadowsweet, hazelnut crumble, and apple compote.

Apple granita snow completes the dish.

Quickly, please.

How was that, then? MATT LAUGHS

That was, er... That was emotional.

It looks so pretty in its golden apple. Let's have a look inside.

Oh. Oh, it's beautiful! We've got a golden apple here.

This is blown sugar, isn't it?

Yeah. It's amazingly delicate.

Very, very cold apple snow on the outside, and it's quite tart. Sharp.

Mm. The taste of the apple with the crumble - it seems to

emphasise the hazelnuts.

This is technically a very hard thing to achieve, isn't it?

You actually get the flavour, as well, of two different apples,

which I really like. I mean, I think that's very clever.

The combination of temperatures in itself is just absolute model.

I mean, it's extraordinary, really.

They never cease to astonish me, these chefs.

I mean, this is just amazing. Do you think this is going to be a ten?

I have no idea.

I don't think I really want to say.

Fabulous. Fab-u-lous.

Well, I'd give it 12 if I could. It's at least a ten from me.

Oh, it's a definite ten for me.

The final dish of the day is Matt's modern interpretation

of the classic, Peach Melba, created for legendary opera singer,

Dame Nellie Melba, at the Savoy Hotel in the 19th century.

It scored an eight in the week.

Phil said that my dessert needed a bit more texture,

so I'm making a raspberry jelly instead of the fresh raspberries.

Matt worked on his liquid nitrogen frozen raspberries.

But, just as he's about to plate up,

he has a change of heart about his presentation.

I recognise them. Aren't they the ones from the fish course?

Phil said I needed a bit more colour in me dessert, so I thought,

"Why not?"

With the clock ticking, Matt changes his mind again.

No, I'm afraid it's just not going to work. Nothing? Not worth it.

No point trying too hard, is there?

There's enough naff in me prawn cocktail.

Don't need to put it in me Peach Melba as well.

Finally, Matt starts his plates with caramelised peach puree,

and peaches poached in schnapps and vanilla.

Next, freeze-dried raspberries, and his new raspberry jelly cubes.

Matt completes his dish with raspberry sponge,

nitro-frozen raspberries, and vanilla ice cream...

..before serving his dessert on boards,

paying homage to honours given out to great Britons.

Can you put the medal to the judge, please?

Happy? Yeah. Hopefully I've done enough.

"For God and Empire."

We know what this is, don't we? Yes, WE know what this is.

All three of us know what this is, because we've got one.

It's an OBE medal.

I'm very pleased for you.

Well, he's got the original ingredients of Peach melba,

hasn't he?

Vanilla ice cream with raspberry puree on it, with peaches. Mm.

There's lot of different textures, temperatures,

and flavours going on, all at the same time.

The ice cream is particularly good, and just the right amount.

Mm. That raspberry jelly, little cubes of raspberry jelly,

absolutely delicious, cos they look quite jelly-like,

and then you put them in your mouth, and they just dissolve instantly.

Peaches themselves require a great deal of skill.

You know, this is a very good pudding.

He's poached them in peach schnapps, which is a very good idea, and

it gives it a bit of sharpness... Yes. ..which is interesting.

I don't really think it's a banquet dish.

It's not a banquet dish, is it? Yes. Really? I think so.

Well... I think it is delicious.

I worked so hard today. I gave it everything.

I really hope I've just pipped you to the post.

The feeling of getting to the finals, with this brief,

for me, would be sheer elation.

I think today has been absolutely sensational.

I've been fascinated, intrigued. I can't ask for more.

Good luck. It's been great competing with you. Good luck.

May the best man win.

It really is hard to call right now, because,

for me, both of them did three good dishes and one bad one.

Either of these guys could have a banquet dish.

That's why it's going to be a very difficult call to make today.

I'm sort of reluctant to do the adding up, because I really

don't want to tell one of them that they're not the winner.

Well, hello, chefs. BOTH: Hello.

Adam, it's the first time for you, isn't it?

Yep. I knew it was going to be tough,

but nothing can prepare you for that kitchen.

And Matt, for the second time round, was it any easier?

This doesn't get any easier.

Well, I'm sure what you want to know is who is the champion for

the north-west region.

The winner is...

..Adam.

Well done. Thank you. Thank you very much.

HE SIGHS I don't know what to say, really.

It's been a phenomenal week, and I've given it everything

I possibly can, so it just feels amazing.

Matt, I'm really sorry.

You know, losing is always hard to take,

but it's great to lose to somebody like Adam.

Spoken like a champ.

Adam, your dessert was one of the best that any of us have ever eaten.

Absolutely sensational. I gave it a ten.

And, in fact, I think your Golden Empire apple pudding was

a gold medal winner, because we all gave it ten.

I don't know what to say. Thank you.

Matt, your coronation chicken.

We just loved the way you re-imagined that.

It was a great dish. It was fantastic.

I vowed only to taste each dish, and I ate the lot.

Thank you both so much.

Well, Adam, we really look forward to seeing you in the finals,

and Matt, please don't be put off coming back for a third time.

You could be third time lucky. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.

Wow! Erm, don't really know what to say. That's, erm...

Obviously, the dessert came through in the end.

It really breaks your heart that they can't both win.

Somebody has to lose, you know. Adam put better food up.

It really is as literal as that, and I hope he goes all the way.

Congratulations. Cheers, mate.

A worthy winner.

I've got through to the final.

'Yeah!

'I'm so pleased. Well done, I'm so pleased for you.'

Thank you. 'Yay!'

You see clips of a pile of bricks causing anger in a gallery.

And a pickled shark floating in a tank.

Then a voiceover asks you...

"Is art just an idea?"

BBC4 gets very conceptual.