Scotland Fish Great British Menu

This week on Great British Menu,

three of Scotland's most dynamic chefs...

It's going to get smoky now.

..Adam Handling, the youngest chef in the kitchen...

Everything I do is for a reason.

..Michael Bremner, who's not afraid to take risks...

Now everyone's going for top of the leaderboard

-and I want to be the one that's there.

-Ah!

..and Ally McGrath, who is putting bold flavours first.

Ahh!

-Do you need me to jump in?

-I'll be fine.

In the year the nation marked 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 a banquet

at the iconic Palace of Westminster.

One course in and Adam Handling is out in front,

impressing the most with his starter.

I'm going to give you an eight.

Ally and Michael are trailing in joint last place.

Today is the fish course and the pressure is on Adam to stay ahead.

There are loads of risks.

I'm cooking three types of shellfish.

But Ally and Michael are both determined to plate a winning dish.

We all know that anything can happen and today's a different day.

I like that fighting talk.

It's easy! It's only cooking.

-The competition...

-Your pan.

-..is getting serious.

-I'm not messing up.

-I knew you'd mess this up for me.

-No.

The chefs are competing to create dishes that are

a fitting legacy to our modern Elizabethan age.

And a celebration of the transformation of British cuisine

during the Queen's historic reign.

Judging these dishes for innovative and contemporary cooking

is veteran Daniel Clifford.

Twice a banquet winner, he's seeking excellence.

Some of the best shellfish comes from Scotland.

There's no reason they can't produce scores of nine and ten.

-Ready for the next course?

-I'm feeling good.

-I'm feeling good as well.

-Yeah, yeah, you're looking better.

I didn't expect someone like Daniel Clifford to give me an eight.

I'm relatively happy. I'm very happy, actually.

There's only two points between it.

Today, I'm going to get it done.

Fingers crossed.

Well, I don't second that, but, sure.

First up, Adam Handling.

His starter impressed with strong presentation

and clever cooking.

He's determined to keep his two-point lead.

My strategy is to make an even bigger bang

than I did with the starter.

You know, any one of these guys can just jump ahead of me straightaway.

I don't want that.

-Hi, Chef. You all right?

-I'm good, thanks.

I'm going to see great scores like I did yesterday?

-I really hope so.

-Right. So take me through your box.

-What's the dish called?

-The Jewels In Our Seas.

-OK.

Scotland has the best things in their seas, I personally think,

-than anywhere in the world. So I'm going to showcase that...

-OK.

..to represent the Queen's Great Britain as well.

So here we have a crab.

I'm just going to boil it, pick the white crab meat down,

mix it with a little touch of creme fraiche and some lemon.

The brown crab meat, take it out.

That will be put in a sauce at the end.

And the shells, I'm going to roast the bones and use them as well.

-You're using the whole crab?

-The whole crab.

-And the whole lobster?

-The whole lobster as well.

Little bearnaise made out of it, as well as the tail, poached.

-Just lobster-y. Nice, simple...

-Lobster-y.

-Lobster-y.

-That's a new word to me.

-Yeah.

-And I can't have a fish dish without scallops on.

-OK.

I absolutely adore them.

And then you've got English caviar.

-Yeah.

-We are using the best of the best here.

-Luxury.

How are you going to tell me that these are meant to represent

the Queen's jewels?

-I have quite a fun presentation...

-Right.

-..which I want to leave for the last minute so you can see it.

-OK.

-I can't wait to see it. Good luck.

-Thank you very much.

Adam's dish, the Jewels In Our Seas,

lots of different shellfish going on.

The difficulty is cooking them to perfection.

I'm looking for something that's going to blow me away.

Next is Ally McGrath, his rustic starter

left veteran judge Daniel underwhelmed.

So today, he's focusing on serving a more contemporary dish.

He mentioned about being a bit more modern.

It tastes good and it looks good,

so we'll see what he says at the end of the day.

-Hi, Chef. You all right?

-Very well, thanks.

-Good, good.

-Very well.

Was you happy yesterday? Six points.

I think it could be better.

If you could put your personality on a plate,

-I think you'll do very well.

-Thank you, Chef.

Name of the this is Best Of British

and we're going to work with some of the best ingredients that

I think you can get.

We've got the salmon.

I live in Peebles. It sits on the River Tweed.

It's a famous salmon river with good fish in it.

-So this is something that's really close to your heart?

-It is.

-It's not my favourite fish, Chef.

-It's not?

-It's not, no.

-Especially...

-So you're cooking me something that you don't enjoy

-eating yourself?

-No, its not that I don't enjoy it.

-It's not my favourite.

-Adam, do you like salmon?

I love salmon. I'll taste it for you.

So we've got the crab, we're going to use the brown meat,

we're going to use the white meat.

And then we're going to use the shell to make a sauce

to pour over the dish.

We've got fantastic hand-dived scallops from Scotland.

Very interested, Adam.

-He's using crabs, he's using scallops.

-Yes.

Yeah, we have very, very similar ingredients,

so it will be very interesting to see.

Ally's dish, the Best Of British,

he's got a box, full of amazing ingredients,

I just want him to take it to the next level

and show me it's not all about rustic cooking,

he can hit the brief by cooking great modern food, too.

Last up, Michael Bremner.

He failed to get the best out of the unusual ingredients

he used in his starter.

Today, he's out to impress.

I really believe in my fish dish.

I'm putting yesterday behind me and I'm going to focus on today.

-Hi, Chef. How are you?

-Very well, thank you. How are you?

Yeah, not too bad. How are you feeling?

I'm a little bit disappointed with my score for the starter,

but I'm really excited about this dish.

It's called A Message To The Lode Star.

-The Lode Star?

-There's a fisherman by the name of Willie Hay,

and I'm dedicating this whole dish to him.

He started as a crab picker for his dad

and then he climbed the ladder to owning his own boat

called The Lode Star.

-Then he was the president of the Scottish Fishermen's Federation.

-OK.

Not only did he win an MBE, he also got a CBE as well.

-So we've got deep history here.

-Yeah. Definitely.

So I've taken some humble ingredients,

one of my favourite fish, mackerel.

-A great ingredient, you know, I think.

-Oh, amazing.

-But it's one of the cheapest fish in the sea.

-Yeah.

-Are you the tight Scotsman?

-Oh, yeah. Massively.

Basically, I'm going to cure the mackerel,

so then I'm going to have five components.

I'm going to start with seaweed, then I'm going to go onto potato...

-OK.

-..pickled vegetable, then I'm going to do smoke pancetta.

I'm going to set that like a jelly and that will wrap my clams.

OK.

I'm going to finish with a native oyster.

Got your work cut out here, Chef.

I've got... There's a lot of elements.

It's basically five stages.

Michael's dish, A Message To The Lode Star.

Mackerel, smoked bacon.

For me, he's taking the biggest risk.

To take a poor man's food and make it banquet-worthy,

that's a challenge.

As cooking starts, Adam reminds his competitors that he's in the lead.

So, boys, the youngest one in the kitchen is two points ahead of you.

Fractionally, you're only fractionally younger than me.

Fraction? You're about ten years older than me, mate.

Age is a number, boys.

I think with age comes experience.

-Good. I like that fighting talk.

-HE LAUGHS

And if Scotland doesn't get seafood to a banquet to represent

what's great in this country, we're doing something wrong.

Michael is pickling vegetables

and making a delicate potato salad.

He's an experimental chef, but his interpretation

of a classic starter disappointed.

He's determined to score more highly with his contemporary fish dish.

He's preparing salt-cured mackerel with five different accompaniments.

Now, I love raw mackerel, I think it's a great flavour,

but do you think that's a gamble?

It's a massive gamble, but, you know, we are here to take chances.

The most technically challenging element is a gel made from dashi,

a Japanese fish-based stock.

-This is just infusing with the smoked pancetta.

-OK.

I finished it with the ginger and spring onions.

-It's a new technique, dashi, that Japanese influence.

-Yeah.

-Is this going to take your dish to the next level?

-I think so.

The whole dish sort of works together.

The whole point of the dish is that if you start with seaweed

and then you go potato, and they work together,

and then you go from potato to the pickled vegetables,

they work together, and it, like, evolves.

The presentation, how I serve it, is what is going to really,

-you know, it's...

-It's got the wow factor.

-Wow factor.

-Yeah, I think so.

-OK.

Ally is preparing dressed crab meat

and making a crab sauce for his Best Of British dish.

He prides himself on bold flavours,

but his starter was marked down for lacking originality.

Today, he's pushing hard to produce a more refined, contemporary dish.

Got the salmon, going to brine it

and then I'm going do it at 40 degrees

-which cooks the protein very lightly.

-OK.

I'm looking forward to that cos I really, really do love salmon.

Getting the stuff to taste as good as it did

when I practised it at home, that's the key.

I need to bring out my character onto the plate.

It's easy! It's only cooking.

Like Ally...

Adam is serving crab meat and making a crab sauce.

He's also shucking scallops which he'll pan fry at the last minute,

again, the same as Ally.

-You two are very similar. Are you nervous about that?

-Yeah.

I think it's great competition.

Which one's going to be the better one?

I've not seen his yet, so I'll just say mine.

My dish is very much classic cooking.

What's your modern part of it?

The execution, the way that I'm going to present it,

is very fun, it's very funky.

Fish is my favourite course. I absolutely love to eat fish.

But in my research,

I met the most incredible man that I've ever met in my life

with more honours than I even knew existed,

well into his 90s, done so much.

I was actually speechless to even be in his company.

Adam's great Briton is fellow Scot Captain Eric Brown.

Now 97, Eric is the greatest aviator the country has known

and one of the most decorated great Britons.

If you put them down in order of importance,

I've got to the CBE, OBE, MBE,

the Distinguished Service Cross,

the Air Force Cross

and the King's Commendation For Valuable Service In The Air.

So who was it that gave you your awards?

The main person was King George VI.

I think it was on my fourth award,

he smiled as he gave it to me and he said, "Not you again."

He was always charm itself.

The Queen gave me awards after her father had died,

and of course, this lady is just perfection.

Eric became the Navy's chief test pilot

and holds two world records for flying a staggering 487

different types of aircraft

and for completing more than 2,400 aircraft carrier landings.

You were on the aircraft carriers for a long time.

-What was the food like on them?

-The food?

-Yeah, the food.

Those days, it was wartime standard.

There was enough of it, but I wouldn't say it was delicate.

As one of the Queen's honoured great Britons,

Adam wanted Eric to try his fish course in the hope

that the luxurious seafood would eclipse the memory of Navy rations.

Oh, this looks very intriguing.

-The sauce is made from crab.

-Mm-hm.

Adam, what I'll say to you is that it's superb.

Thank you very much. I'm glad you liked it.

Well, you made this country proud, now I've got to make it food proud.

Very nice to have met you.

Nice to have met you too. A great honour.

In the kitchen, Adam's got a lot to do.

He has crab and scallops to prepare as well as lobster two ways.

There are loads of risks.

I'm cooking three types of shellfish

that are completely the opposite in terms of how they get cooked.

They all need to be done at the same time and served warm.

-So what are we doing now?

-I'm just trimming up the lobster.

-The main dish on the actual plate will be the lobster...

-OK.

..and the crab.

-So the lobster, you've poached it.

-Yeah.

-Gently.

-Very gently.

You're two points ahead, is this dish going to keep you there?

I certainly hope so.

Every single element that I'm doing, I making sure it's 1,000% correct.

I'm looking for strong points here,

I don't want to see you start well and decline.

I want to see you carry on growing.

-Yeah, I want that more than you do.

-I'm sure.

Ally's hoping to show a modern side to his cooking with his fish course.

Your pan.

He's made the salt and vinegar crispy kale,

but still needs to finish lightly poaching the salmon.

I've got a lot to do so I am feeling a little bit of pressure.

It's all going to come together.

Maybe in the next wee while, I can calm down slightly.

-You look extremely busy.

-Yeah.

-Is salmon cooked already?

-The salmon is done.

I'm just going to take the skin off, trim it up.

It must be quite difficult to do something that you're not sure about

that you don't like in the first place.

Yeah, it's a bit of a challenge.

I don't like salmon, but I quite like it done this way.

OK. So if you're scoring yourself now, what would you give yourself?

A ten for effort.

If it was just an effort, Chef, and being sweaty,

I'd be right up there.

What do you think about the boys? How are they getting on?

They look very calm, don't they?

They don't look like someone's dropped a grenade on their section,

no, I'll be totally honest with you.

Keep smiling, yeah? Keep smiling, keep pushing. You'll get there.

Michael is finishing the last element of his mackerel dish -

in honour of Willie Hay, a leading Scottish fishermen -

steaming clams and using setting agents to turn his pancetta

and dashi broth into a gel.

And then, as soon as you kind of hit down,

you just keep moving it until it sets.

It smells delicious.

That's it.

So that's a very modern technique you just did there.

How does that work in your dish?

I'm basically picking off the clams

and I'm going to roll it in the pancetta broth jelly.

So it's kind of like a ravioli.

Ally will be the first to serve up his Best Of British fish dish.

He leaves pan frying the scallops to the last minute.

Are you wanting a hand, Ally?

No, I'm fine. I've got it.

I know it's been a bit chaotic, but I'm near now, Chef, thank you.

First into bowls is pickled fennel and fennel puree.

Then the lightly poached salmon

and white and brown crab meat with herbs.

Ally, you confident?

Yes, Chef. I'm not shaking, Chef.

Next are seared scallops and mini broccoli florets.

Sea vegetables and radish provide a garnish,

along with contemporary salt-and-vinegar crispy kale.

Ally is serving his dish on a board of pebbles,

hoping to transport the diner to the Scottish shores.

What's that?

Bits of driftwood, seaweed, just to build it up,

make it a bit more beachy feel.

His crab sauce is served in individual jugs.

-Are you happy with it?

-Very.

Best Of British. So we've got the best of British seafood.

Same ingredients, is it worrying you?

It is worrying me. This looks absolutely beautiful.

-Shall we go and try, Chef?

-Yes, Chef.

The jug should hold just the right amount for the whole dish.

Maybe I filled it too much. No, yeah.

I'm only going to put a little bit in. It's quite a lot.

Yeah, it is a lot.

Presentation, are you happy?

Yeah, very happy. I think it looks great.

So, salmon, not your favourite.

It's not my favourite, but to be honest,

I actually quite liked it.

For a man that doesn't like salmon, he's cooked it really well.

Everything about that salmon is absolutely delicious.

I think the crab works really well.

-Yeah, crab is delicious.

-The seasoning on that is wicked.

-Yeah.

The scallop.

One of my favourites.

One of the best things that Scotland produces.

When they're done right, it's absolutely stunning.

Bang on. He's cooked it on one side.

I love when a scallop is only cooked on one side, it's delicious,

-it keeps moisture.

-It's great.

-Really, really good.

-Yeah.

-Does that hit the brief?

-I think so.

-I'd give it a nine, it's delicious.

-You know what?

I might give it a nine as well.

I'm definitely nervous about that.

How did it go?

Hopefully better than the starter.

I'm happy with it and it was much more polished.

I think it was a great dish.

Yeah, me too.

Very kind of you both, thank you.

Michael is next to plate up his mackerel dish,

a tribute to honoured Scottish fisherman Willie Hay.

Five pieces of cured mackerel are laid in a bisected glass bottle,

each will be topped with a different ingredient,

starting with the most basic and progressing to luxurious.

The first is seaweed, simply garnished with crispy mackerel trim.

The second is potato and caper salad.

Looking good. What's that bit?

Pickled vegetables.

Kind of like...almost like an escabeche.

Next is the steamed clam wrapped in the clear pancetta gel.

The final, most luxurious component

is a cooked oyster topped with oyster emulsion.

Michael finishes with a message in the neck of the bottle.

So, this is my Message To The Lode Star.

It's definitely a message in a bottle.

-Looks good.

-Incredible, looks amazing.

-Let's go and try it, Michael, shall we?

-Yeah.

-Good.

"Your life was a Lode Star, a beacon to guide."

-"To respect the seas and she will provide."

-Nice.

-Think it hits the brief?

-I think it's perfect.

-Yeah.

-The seaweed, is that overpowering?

-I don't think so, no.

You can really taste the sea in there.

The mackerel is cured to perfection.

I think the mackerel's brilliant.

-Mackerel with potato salad and capers.

-Yeah.

The mackerel - do you think that's going to be everyone's cup of tea?

I would hope so.

-Beautiful.

-Not quite as good as the seaweed one, but...

-I like that one. I like that one better.

-Do you?

-Yeah.

Right, let's try the pickled veg.

Is that too strong for the dish?

I don't think so. I think the mackerel can take it.

-It's very sweet.

-It is. I like it.

-And the clams?

-Yeah.

The pancetta gel.

It's maybe not quite got the bacon-y flavours

-I was expecting, but...

-I can taste the smoked.

This is the oyster, so this is, like, the big finale.

It just bursts in your mouth, it just keeps going...

-I've still got the flavour...

-I've still got it as well.

He's going to score very highly with that.

I think so too.

-Anything you'd change?

-I don't think so, no.

I really like that dish.

-How are you doing, lads?

-That was great.

-Really?

-That was tremendous.

-I liked the flavours.

-That was good.

-Adam, I need you to do me a favour.

-I'm not messing up.

-I need you to mess this up for me.

-No.

Before Adam can plate up his luxurious Jewels From The Sea,

he needs to finish cooking his shellfish -

deep frying lobster in a tempura batter and pan frying scallops.

Lots of butter, Chef. Nice.

First onto Adam's dish is poached lobster,

then white crab meat...

avocado puree, English caviar and the tempura lobster...

..with a garnish of sea herbs and nasturtium leaves.

He seasons with a squeeze of lime finger.

Like Ally, Adam is serving the crab sauce in separate jugs.

Finally, he's ready to reveal his theatrical presentation.

You can put this like that.

A treasure chest for the scallops.

-Look at you.

-And dry ice

for a dramatic finish.

-Well done.

-Thank you very much.

-Pleased?

Yes. Yes.

So, Adam, the title of the dish?

The Jewels In Our Seas.

-OK, let's go and enjoy the jewels.

-Perfect.

Visually, I thought that was epic.

-Yeah, here's hoping it's all raw, not tasty.

-Yeah.

-Do I put the full jug on or...?

-Yeah, you can do.

Over the scallop, please.

That's good.

-That lobster's got amazing taste.

-Hm-mm.

-And this is the tempura lobster?

-Yeah.

Is that the texture you were looking for?

A touch, touch, touch chewy.

I think I overcooked it just a smidge.

The lobster tempura, what did you think of that?

It's really nice.

-This is the white crab meat and the caviar?

-Yeah.

The scallop.

-I think that scallop's delicious.

-Yeah.

The only concern would be temperature.

I'm struggling to find fault with it.

Can you see this dish at the banquet?

I think I could, yeah.

What would you change?

The lobster tempura, I overcooked that,

that was completely stupid, and the sauce to be warmer.

How was that?

-I think it went quite well.

-I thought it was amazing.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-It was better than your starter.

-Really? Good.

-Yeah.

Amazing, thank you very much.

I need a big score today.

-Me and you are at back at the moment.

-Yeah.

Well, I'm not going to lie, I want to keep my lead.

Oh...

-Good evening, Chefs.

-CONTESTANTS:

-Good evening.

-How was that?

-It was good.

-Good. It felt good.

Ally, I'm going to start with you, with your Best Of British.

I feel your presentation let you down.

OK.

You need to measure out the sauce that you're putting into the jug.

-Yep.

-Cos if you go to the judges,

they'll pour it all on and it'll completely ruin the dish.

But I can't fault the cooking of the fish,

I thought it was perfect.

The crab, which initially I thought was going to be overworked,

was spot on.

I think if you work on your presentation and you give

that the wow factor,

this is a dish that I could eat over and over and over again.

Adam, for your Jewels In Our Seas,

to be fair, your own criticism of the dish was spot on.

The lobster was slightly overcooked, the sauce could have been hotter.

And I think it would change the whole dish.

But the presentation, it was brilliant.

It brought a smile to my face.

It told a great story.

I think this is a dish, if you put the work into it,

it's a banquet contender.

Michael, for your Message To The Lode Star,

I wasn't expecting this dish at all.

I was worried that the humble ingredient and curing of the

mackerel wasn't going to be enough.

However, Michael,

you had such respect for the ingredients,

you had such respect for the brief,

I think this is a real testament of coming of age of British food.

I can't criticise this dish.

So, for the scores, I'm going to start with you, Ally.

I'm going to give you...

..an eight.

-HE SIGHS

-Thank you.

Adam...

I'm going to give you a score of eight, too.

Michael.

Michael, I'm going to give you a ten.

ALLY CLAPS

I think it's probably one of the best dishes I've ever tasted

in this kitchen.

I think it showed real skill

and I really don't know how I kept

my feelings back.

I knew it was a ten before I even tasted it.

It was amazing.

I believe this is the strongest I've ever seen three fish dishes

in any of the Great British Menu. I can't wait for tomorrow.

-Thanks very much. Good night, lads.

-Good night.

I can't believe that.

I loved the brief, I loved everything I did about it

and, yeah, I'm glad that he recognised

the amount of effort I put into that.

That's insane, I got a ten.

-Well done.

-I can't believe it.

That's superb.

With two courses down,

Michael has closed the gap and is joint top with Adam.

Ally remains in third place.

He's doing Scotland proud this year.

Everyone's bringing their big guns to the show, so...

I'm only two points behind the other two, it's still close.

I'm shaking.

'I'm very frustrated to lose the lead.

'Me and Michael, we're on the same now.'

I'm very, very competitive.

It will spur me on. I'm not going to take it lying down.