Wales Fish Great British Menu

This week on Great British Menu...

three of the most exciting chefs from Wales.

Last year's regional champion Adam Bannister...

Can I have another piping bag, please?

..returner Phil Carmichael...

Fingers crossed, I pull this dish off.

..and newcomer Andrew Birch, a confident and competitive chef.

Are you OK, Andrew? Yeah, I'm spot-on, mate.

In the year of the Queen's 90th birthday,

the chefs are celebrating the everyday great Britons

honoured throughout her reign.

And competing for the chance to cook for them

at an historic banquet, at the Palace of Westminster.

One course in and reigning champion Adam is out in front.

I'm going to award you eight points.

Phil is one point behind,

with newcomer Andrew trailing in third place.

Today's the fish course, and Andrew is determined to

prove himself by plating up a winner.

I'm trying to modernise the dish a little bit.

But Adam and Phil are both out to get to the judging chamber

for a second year.

I've got to get this fish course boxed,

nailed and make sure I beat Adam.

Never had a problem before,

so fingers crossed, it doesn't happen today.

The competition is getting serious.

So you're ripping off Tom Kerridge?

I'm ripping off Tom Kerrridge.

How is Captain Bannister doing?

He's a bit stressed. I've practised and practised.

I'm concerned about it.

The challenge is to create dishes that are

a celebration of the complete transformation

of British cuisine during the Queen's historic reign.

Judging these dishes for innovative and contemporary cooking

is veteran Michael Smith, who's expecting excellence.

The fish course is a great opportunity for the chefs

to showcase their technical ability.

We are an island nation.

We're surrounded by some of the most wonderful shellfish

and fish anywhere in the world.

There's nothing in it really. Two points from top to bottom.

Fingers crossed, I execute it perfectly.

You know, and I get top marks for this one.

I'm a little bit behind on points.

Those points can be made up in one dish.

Get head down and produce the best I can

and stay at the top of the board.

Good luck, gents. Good luck with the fish course. Yeah, good luck, guys.

First up, Andrew Birch.

His starter, a luxurious take on cauliflower cheese

complete with truffle wasn't enough to impress veteran judge Michael.

He's bottom of the leaderboard but still confident.

I'm excited about the fish dish.

I love cooking fish and I'd like to hope I get

a higher score than my first course.

Hello, Michael. Andrew. Couple of points behind.

I can't do nothing about it.

Just concentrate on the next course and hopefully do a bit better.

Quite right, that's the right attitude.

The title of my fish course, Michael, is the Ladies of Penclawdd.

Who are these lovely ladies?

A lot of the men worked in the coal mines and then

a lot of men died in the mines, so the women needed to go out and work,

and the majority of them would work on the beaches of Penclawdd,

sorting the cockles and laverbread.

And with this dish,

you want to pay tribute to those hardy Welsh ladies.

Yeah, exactly. I'm going to use these amazing cockles

from Penclawdd to cook a risotto.

But it's not a traditional risotto with rice.

I'm going to use the British humble potato. OK.

I'm also going to make a nice fennel salad.

I'm going to be using this amazing laverbread.

It's a seaweed that's been gathered off the beaches.

This is the fish course, so...

I'm using plaice because it's very plentiful in our waters.

And, also, another very important ingredient

to this dish is malt vinegar.

I'm actually going to make a gel.

Well, I love the sound of all of this.

As long as you elevate it and refine it with the banquet in mind.

OK.

Malt vinegar gel, potato risotto instead of rice,

Andrew's making these innovations, which is great,

that's what he needs to do to go all the way.

Next up, Phil Carmichael.

His curry-inspired starter impressed on flavour but lost points

for cooking errors and simple presentation.

I'm not doing a lot of props this year.

I've just got to stick to my guns, let the food do the talking.

Hi, Phil. Hi, Michael. One point in it.

Hopefully, I can nail this dish

and get rid of that one-point difference.

I'm sure you can.

So the title of my fish course is

The '70s Called, They Want Their Cocktail Back.

All right, that sounds like fun already. Yeah.

This is my modern interpretation of the classic prawn cocktail.

You know, this whole dish encapsulates, you know, how far

we've come as a nation of chefs

throughout, you know, the last sort of 60 years.

Right, so how are you going to bring it up

to the 21st century, so to speak?

Well, I'm going to use these

beautiful langoustines instead of prawns.

We're going to have to have a bit of lettuce with this prawn cocktail?

Absolutely. So I'm going to braise the baby gems,

traditionally serve brown bread and butter with prawn cocktail. Yes.

So I've got some, you know, beautiful brown sourdough,

slice it super thin.

A little bit of texture, a little bit of crunch.

I'm serving the whole dish warm,

which you wouldn't normally associate

with a prawn cocktail, so I'm going to make a hot Marie Rose sauce.

I'm a child of the '70s so I know this dish well.

Is it dangerous to have a lot of play with it, do you think or...?

Of course it is but, you know, we're here to take risks.

It will be interesting to see what you think of this,

my interpretation.

Never had a warm prawn cocktail before.

Could be a revelation or it could be a no-go area.

Finally, Adam Bannister.

He's in the lead after plating an inventive, well-executed starter.

But the returning national champion knows

the competition is strong.

As it's looking like it's going to

be close on the scoring, I think that I've just got

to get in there, get my head down, you know, and push as hard as I can.

Adam. Chef.

You've got a narrow lead, you going to maintain that?

Yeah, I'd like to think so. OK. The title of your dish?

Captain Bannister's Boil-In-The-Bag.

Captain Bannister?

Is he a great British fishmonger?

Relative of yours? He could well be.

Boil-in-the-bag, it doesn't really sound that appetising to me.

Back in the day, you know,

in the Queen's era, when it came out it was quite big for people.

You know, the convenience of it.

I think it would be nice to showcase how far we've come because of

the science that's involved in food.

Try and bring it up to the, you know, the 21st-century.

I'm not sure the Queen would have been used

to having boil-in-the-bag dinners at Buckingham Palace.

But I get where you're coming from.

What have we got here? Well, I'll just get the star of the show first.

Captain Bannister's been out fishing, right? Yep.

Turbot. I felt as we were honouring the Queen's Great Britain

that I'd use the king of the sea.

I'm just going to fillet it off the bone

and then I'm going to have some shallots,

some capers, roasted fish stock and crab stock inside the bag.

And then it will be cooked then in the water bath.

And I'm going to make a pea fondant so it's going to have, like,

a liquid centre in the middle.

You mean, like a chocolate fondant dessert

but you're going to do a savoury version with peas?

Yeah, yeah. Exactly that. All right, sounds interesting.

Ever tried Captain Bannister's Boil-In-The-Bag? No, not at all.

Is it in the supermarkets yet?

I've never had a pea fondant before.

More often than not, fish courses

are best left to their prime ingredients.

Is the pea fondant going to enhance that dish? It's yet to be seen.

As the chefs get cooking,

talk turns to their interpretations of the brief.

So you're doing a prawn cocktail, Phil?

And you're doing the boil-in-the-bag.

They're quite dated dishes so are you confident

you're both going to bring them up to modern day?

It was something, it was, you know, quite popular in its day.

For this dish I think it works very well.

Fingers crossed, you know, I pull this dish off.

Celebrating everything to do with the Queen's reign and just

how far Britain has come,

you know, as a food nation.

I tried to do very similar with my cauliflower dish.

And it didn't work for me,

but I think it could work for both these dishes.

Adam is cooking crab.

And making a fish and crab stock for his retro boil-in-a-bag dish.

Are you going to come out with a pipe and a beard later

with a dodgy Fisherman's hat on?

You'll have to wait and watch.

What are you coming dressed as, you know, with the '70s and everything?

I'll be in my bell-bottoms, dodgy glasses, big flowery shirts.

Captain Bannister and a disco king. Should be a good party.

Like his winning starter, Adam's aiming to impress with

complex cooking, and his decision

to make a savoury fondant is causing a stir.

The pea fondant, I've never heard of that. I just love the texture.

I think peas are fantastic to put with turbot,

so it just sort of evolved around that.

Adam needs to add flour and eggs to melted butter

and pea puree to finish the fondant mixture.

Veteran Michael is keen to find out more about this original idea.

Lovely, vibrant green.

Adam, is it like a chocolate fondant in a dessert form?

Same principles, you know, you've got your liquids, centre...

Is this a modified dessert recipe or is this something...?

No, no, it's a recipe that's just... I don't know, it just happened.

Just happened? Yeah.

So, sounds like you're really pulling out all the stops.

Once again, risky element to all of that? We'll see.

OK, I'm very intrigued to try this. Thank you.

Phil's making brown sourdough wafers to garnish

his modern take on prawn cocktail

This is a love it or hate it dish.

I'm going to make sure that every little component is perfect,

and if I pull it off,

that's what we're here to do, we're here to sort of push ourselves.

Phil blanches the langoustines to make sure they're perfectly tender

and then chills.

He has opted for luxury rather than more widely available prawns.

Andrew has made a different choice.

So, I'm using langoustines, a super-luxury ingredient,

Adam is using turbot, you are using plaice, a pretty common fish...

It is a common fish but I think it is underused,

I think a good plaice could stand up against any of the expensive fish.

Andrew is also using Welsh cockles to make a stock.

His dish honours Wales's fishing industry,

and the cockle women of Penclawdd in Swansea.

Lovely local cockles, that's where I was brought up,

so you're obviously quite passionate about the Welsh produce as well.

I am, Adam.

After his starter wasn't deemed special enough for a banquet,

Andrew is relying on local delicacies to impress in this dish.

He is also using Penclawdd laverbread, a cooked seaweed.

Does it worry you using laverbread, cos it

isn't to everybody's cup of tea?

No, I love laverbread,

just going to bring a saltiness and a freshness to it.

I'll try to put Welsh ingredients on my menu as much as I can because,

as you know, we produce some of the best,

we've got loads to sing about in Wales.

Andrew travelled to Cardiff, to meet one of the great Britons

he hopes to cook for at the banquet, a fellow proud Welshman.

Hello, Tim. Hello. Andrew, how's it going? Very good, thank you.

Very nice to meet you.

Timothy Rhys-Evans is the founder and musical director

of the choirs Only Men Aloud

and Only Boys Aloud, who both found success on TV talent shows.

I actually remember watching you and I, well, I did not tear up,

I didn't start crying... Go on! I didn't start crying when I heard

your guys, but it did really hit you

and you think, "Just phenomenal."

THEY SING

The choir aims to improve the lives

of boys from underprivileged backgrounds

through singing, a proud Welsh tradition.

Our national anthem says

Gwlad beirdd a chantorion -

"A land of poets and singers."

And I think it so important that we just make sure

those opportunities are there for, particularly, young lads.

It is changing lives, because they have more confidence,

maybe just because their horizons have been opened.

Yeah, yeah.

Tim was awarded an MBE for his musical and charitable work.

As one of the Queen's great Britons, Andrew was keen

for him to try his fennel salad.

Mm, that's lovely. I could eat all of that.

So, what was it actually like receiving your MBE?

I was very, very lucky. Here you go.

That is quite impressive, isn't it?

I got this from the Queen herself,

at Buckingham Palace, and the best thing about it was I could

take my mum and my nana and then we went to The Ritz for dinner.

Really? Yeah, so... That's brilliant. It was lovely.

Do you wear it much? No, it's a bit ostentatious. Show-off? Yeah!

LAUGHTER

That's brilliant, thank you very much,

it was really nice meeting you.

Yeah, you too, you too.

In the kitchen, Andrew is dicing potato for his

contemporary interpretation of risotto.

I'm trying to substitute the rice for a British product,

trying to modernise the dish a little bit.

I found out a potato risotto from your last year veteran judge,

Tom Kerridge. OK.

He's got it on his menu, I don't know if he invented it,

but I just like the idea of it.

So, you're ripping off Tom Kerridge? I'm ripping off Tom Kerridge.

Good man.

He's hoping to have the edge over his rivals by modernising

the dish with a malt vinegar gel.

How are we doing, Andrew?

Everything is coming together, yes.

That malt vinegar gel, any chance I can have a wee try of that?

Yeah, it's got a bit of a kick so... Be prepared? Be prepared.

Yeah, it's got a bit of a kick to it.

So, what have you got in there?

You got the malt vinegar, some sugar...

Little bit of sugar. And a little, tiny bit of water.

So, it's a seasoning for the dish? Exactly.

Thank you for that. I'll let you get on. Thank you.

Adam is finishing the caper and crab sauce for his turbot.

He is cooking it in a temperature-controlled water bath,

a refined version of home-cooked boil-in-the-bag.

But he's concerned about his test batch of pea fondants.

That work? How you want it?

It's just the oven, making sure...

I felt that it needed a little bit longer,

the flour to be cooked out a little bit more.

I've never had a problem before,

so fingers crossed it doesn't happen today.

Phil has blitzed frozen chives with oil.

And now needs to strain the puree through muslin to extract

the chive oil.

He's hoping this technique should intensify the flavour

and elevate his prawn cocktail to banquet standards.

It's all about this one point that Adam beat me from last year.

So, I've got to get this fish course boxed,

nailed, and make sure I beat Adam.

Phil is also working on the warm elements of his dish.

And braising lettuce.

That looks lovely, man.

Put a dash of Noilly Prat in there, light chicken stock in there. Yeah.

And just in the open, literally about ten minutes.

And making his version of a Marie Rose sauce using cooked tomatoes,

which he'll mix with a hollandaise.

So, you're going to fold this through a classic hollandaise?

Exactly.

But then I'm going to finish with

the classical Marie Rose accompaniments, a bit of brandy,

a bit of Worcester sauce, little bit of cayenne pepper...

And are you going to serve this in a glass?

No, this is on a plate.

And no smoke and mirrors with the presentation,

just showcasing the ingredients?

Absolutely. I'm going to stick to my guns.

What's the biggest risk of this dish for you, Phil?

Hot prawn cocktail.

Spinning it on its head, yeah, the whole dish is a risk.

Well, I can't wait to try it. Thank you.

Andrew is the first to serve his fish course.

He has to cook the plaice and risotto perfectly

at the very last minute.

You look like a chef in control. Uh, not really on the inside.

Cos if it's overcooked,

we've got mashed potatoes with cockles in it,

and if it's undercooked, you've got raw potatoes with cockles in it.

I don't fancy the latter of the options.

The potato risotto with cockles and laverbread is first onto the plate.

With a garnish of fennel pollen and dried laverbread.

Next is the pan-fried plaice...

fennel salad....

and his malt vinegar gel.

Andrew finishes with fennel cress and rapeseed oil.

What do we think, gentlemen?

I like the look of that, looks tasty.

Definitely smells appetising,

I think we should taste this as soon as possible.

Yes.

"In Penclawdd, South Wales, during the Industrial Revolution..."

"Women whose husbands were unfit for work in the coal mines,

"turned to cockle gathering as a lifeline."

"They are some of Britain's unsung heroes."

That's a lovely story.

Thank you.

Potato and cockle risotto. Yeah.

I think I've achieved a texture I want,

it's come together better than all my practices, to be honest, Michael.

The flavour's good, but for me,

the potato is still a little bit raw.

I'd have liked more flavour of that cockle in there.

Yeah, likewise.

Cockles are a delicate flavour,

I'm not expecting you to eat it and go,

"I've just been smacked in the face by a cockle."

Well, the ladies might not appreciate...

You might get a slap back.

How do you think the cooking of the fish is?

I'm very happy with the cooking of the fish.

- I think it's cooked lovely,

caramelisation is lovely on the top.

Malt vinegar, has that paid off?

I could not do this dish without malt vinegar, it's what cockles

in South Wales are about.

It's worked that malt vinegar, it tastes like

fish and chips almost, like you get down the pier.

Shaved fennel. It's just to lighten the whole thing up.

The laverbread in the risotto

and the little crispy bits of laverbread.

I think it works. I really do. Yeah.

I think the story and the dish does really work,

I could see it at the banquet.

Are you all right, guys? Andrew, how did you get on?

I was happy with it, guys,

but I was happy with my cauliflower dish and he scored me a six, so...

Adam is next to plate his fish dish, a contemporary take on

boil-in-the-bag, with the king of the sea, turbot.

The unusual pea fondant is first on the plate.

It's the one thing of the dish

that I've practised and practised and practised.

And I'm concerned about it.

The boil-in-the-bag turbot is served on the side,

to be opened at the table.

How's Captain Banister doing?

He's a bit stressed. He's sinking or swimming? I'm swimming.

Worse things happen at sea, chef, right?

Crab meat and salty fingers are next on the plate.

Garnished with the herb, seablite...and then crab sauce.

The completed dish is then packed in a box.

Ah... So, finally we get to see the elusive Captain Bannister.

I think there's a striking resemblance there, is there?

Open it up and then take your food out.

Thank you very much.

Get stuck in and we'll get stuck into ours.

So each guest would have one of these each

and they would do it themselves?

This would be quite fun to do the banquet. Yeah.

I'm eager to try your pea fondant.

I don't like it. No. I've just got a mouth of flour. Yeah.

Has it turned out just as you had hoped?

I don't think the flour is cooked out as much as it normally does,

and I can't understand why.

We go onto the fish itself, the turbot from the bag.

I think it's nice and moist. I like the texture that you get from it.

Water bathing it does bring

a bit of meaty texture to it.

Great acidity to it, he's got the nice capers in there.

The amount of capers in the dish...

There are quite a few capers, maybe I would lose some.

The crab and the sea herbs?

Yeah, it just brings a freshness to the dish. The crab is nice,

scoring the dish is really hard because without

the pea fondant I think I'd probably score it an eight or a nine,

but the pea fondant is nearly inedible.

Score it out of ten for me, Adam.

Because I'm not happy with my pea fondant,

I am probably going to go... a seven?

How was that, man?

I feel a little bit deflated, you know,

I was happy with everything on the dish apart from the pea fondant.

It's done now, isn't it? I've got to forget about it.

Phil is last to serve his warm prawn cocktail with langoustine.

How are they looking? Yeah, looking good. Happy with them.

First on the plate is braised baby gem lettuce.

Followed by the langoustine...

and diced tomato.

So, this is the warm cocktail sauce.

Fresh baby gem lettuce is next.

Give it a little bit of freshness.

Fennel pollen.

Phil is keeping his presentation simple, to let the food shine.

Chive oil, sourdough wafers and cayenne pepper garnish the dish.

The '70s Called, They Want Their Cocktail Back.

How has that gone for you? Relieved to get that one out the way.

What do we think, guys? I am really looking forward to trying it.

It looks really good, actually. I agree. Shall we go through?

Yes, let's, please.

It's got everything there that I would expect on a prawn cocktail.

How's the cooking of the langoustine for you?

Perfect, soft, succulent, still beautifully tender.

It's got a meaty texture to it. Yeah, they're cooked lovely.

Yeah, nice little heat from the cayenne pepper as well.

You're looking for a warm temperature, not hot, not cold?

Absolutely, for me this is the perfect temperature.

Yeah, I like the sauce, I think he served it at the right temperature,

which I was a bit unsure of.

Are you pleased with how the roast lettuce has come out? Yeah.

You get this wonderful caramelised flavour.

The braised lettuce,

it hasn't really got a lot of texture to it.

Portion size?

The langoustine is going to be quite rich,

so you wouldn't want three of them, I think...

I think my brain is saying, I'd want three langoustines,

but that's just because they were good.

Is there enough visual impact in that dish? For a banquet?

Yeah, I think the dish speaks for itself.

They'll understand what the message I'm trying to get across is.

The title of the dish is quite cheesy and I think if you

are going to call it something like that,

you need to try and carry it on.

Enjoy that? You know, stressful...

Obviously, they don't give anything away, so...

It was a nice dish. I liked it, yeah, it put a smile on my face.

You know, I wasn't happy with the pea fondant but I'll be

disappointed if I get a really, really bad score.

I was happy with my dish, hopefully it will get me back that

extra one or two points that I need to try and catch you guys up.

Chefs, good evening. Tough day? Yeah. Yeah.

Draining. Definitely.

Adam, I'm going to start with you. For your dish...

Captain Bannister's Boil-In-The-Bag.

This was fun presentation, it was a great celebration of

contemporary cooking techniques evolved during the Queen's reign.

Apart from maybe slightly too many capers, the turbot,

all the garnishes, the delicious sauce -

I thought it was all wonderful.

However, a little message for Captain Banister,

the pea fondant needs to go overboard.

It wasn't correct in any way whatsoever.

The only flavour I could get was uncooked flour. Yeah.

Not pleasant. No.

Phil... Your dish...

The '70s Called, They Want Their Cocktail Back.

All the flavours were there, there was innovation there

and the langoustines were cooked to perfection.

I could have had another three of those quite happily.

The sauce was excessive,

probably because there weren't enough langoustines on the plate.

For a banquet, there needs to be creativity and there needs to be

input in the visual presentation.

And I just think you are missing a trick here.

Andrew, and your Ladies Of Penclawdd.

I thought the scroll told the story, but I still think there's

a great opportunity to be creative in the visual impact as well.

And for a banquet, you really need to utilise that. OK, Michael.

However, I think it fits the brief perfectly.

The cooking of the plaice was spot-on.

And the vinegar gel, I thought it was good innovation.

And I really enjoyed that. Thank you.

So, on to the scores.

Adam...

for your dish, I'm scoring you...

..seven points.

The pea fondant...

If that hadn't been on the plate, you would've scored higher.

Phil...I'm going to score you...

..seven points.

Andrew...I'm scoring you...

..eight points. So, well done. Thank you, Michael.

Gentleman, I am really looking forward to the main course

tomorrow, I'll see you then. ALL: Thank you.

HE EXHALES

Well done, chief. Thanks, guys. Well done.

With two courses down, Andrew has closed the gap

and is level with Phil, but Adam's still one point ahead.

Happy? Relieved, I think is the word. I feel slightly frustrated

with the score, it would have been nice to have had another point

going into the main course.

Obviously, I knew I was taking a risk by not using props

and everything this year

and I think that's going to come back and be my downfall,

by the sounds of it. My confidence is ebbing slightly,

'I've got to think of some visual impact to please Michael

'and get that better score.'

I'm happy with my score, it's put me a bit more on line

with you two. So, I'm happy.

I'm feeling a lot more confident, so I'm just going to keep going,

do the best food I can and hopefully try and get into the lead tomorrow.

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