Northern Ireland Main Great British Menu

This week on Great British Menu,

three of Northern Ireland's most exciting chefs.

-These have been through the wars.

-Great British Menu wars.

Competing for the third time, Chris McGowan,

who has the banquet in his sights.

I know how important it is to get a good score today, you know.

Daniel Clifford's head chef, Mark Abbott.

This is the one that everyone wants to win, isn't it?

And Eddie Attwell, for whom local produce is king.

Everything needs to be ready for this one, really.

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

the chefs are celebrating the everyday great Britons

honoured throughout her reign,

and competing for a chance to cook at a banquet

at the Palace of Westminster.

Yesterday, Mark's fish dish impressed veteran Michael...

It's another ten. It was so impressive. Congratulations.

-Phenomenal cooking.

-..netting him his second ten.

Chris moved up to second place, while Eddie slipped to third.

After the starter, I was one point ahead of Chris.

After this fish course, I'm one point behind.

Let's hope tomorrow brings something else.

Eddie now has to plate a winning main course to stay in the running.

I'm still here but the push is on, the push is on.

With Eddie and Chris fighting to catch Mark...

It looks like you're pulling out all the stops today.

I've seen Mark in this kitchen over the last two days.

If I want to be in the game, I've got to raise the game.

..the competition is on.

I'm banging out about 14 different things.

-I'm turning into Mark today.

-Mark, you're due on the pass now.

-One minute to the pass.

-Under control?

-Maybe.

-I'll maybe have no sweat left.

-Argh! Please, come on. Play the game.

The challenge for the chefs is creating dishes

that showcase the transformation of British cuisine

during the Queen's historic reign,

and are a fitting legacy to our modern Elizabethan era.

Judging this week is Michelin-starred Michael O'Hare.

As a banquet champion himself, he's expecting nothing but the best.

I've been really excited with the food I've been presented

so far this week and I think maybe one or two of them have got

a chance to get a main course at the banquet.

I've got a lot to catch up with now with you guys

-and, hopefully, I can get this.

-There's only a point in it, Eddie.

That means nothing in this kitchen, mate. You're the boy to catch, Mark.

You made two tens, mate.

Hopefully, you have an absolutely disastrous day today -

no disrespect. You're a great guy.

Yes, I'm ahead but, at the same time,

I need to produce a fantastic plate of food.

If I overcook the beef, it's game over, isn't it?

Mark Abbott is first.

With two tens already on the board, he's confident,

but feeling the pressure

of delivering a winning main course as well.

I'm nervous about today

because I've had a fantastic start to the competition

and I kind of feel now that I need to keep that up.

Mark, ten for your starter, a ten for your fish course.

You must be pretty confident.

For me, I'm walking in here like it's my starter course

and it's all guns blazing and I'm out to prove a point.

-What's it called?

-My dish is called Grazed For Glory.

Britain's renowned for British beef and now we're producing Wagyu beef.

-What are you going to do with it?

-I'm roasting it in a pan.

-I'm going to use the tail.

-Yeah.

-This has been browned,

then I'm going to pressure-cook it in a red wine-based sauce.

-Similar to how an oxtail would be done.

-Exactly.

And then over here, we have some bone marrow.

-This is going to be turned into smoked bone marrow espuma.

-OK.

Something a little bit different is beef tendons.

I'm going to slice it very finely in a meet slicer,

dehydrate it until it's crispy

-and then fry it and it puffs up like a poppadom.

-Right, OK.

And on the side, I'm going make a little feuilles de brick.

-Feuilles de brick - that's the crispy pastry.

-Crispy pastry.

Rump tartare at the very bottom

and then a slice of tongue on the top to cap it.

What are you doing with the vegetables?

The reason I've introduced sweetcorn into the dish

is because the cattle's fed on maize

and maize is a derivative of sweetcorn.

You're going to have your sweetcorn salad.

These beautiful mushrooms -

what I'm going to do is represent a bone marrow.

-This is the king oyster mushroom.

-King oyster.

-I'm going to hull the mushroom out in the middle.

-Right.

That's going to be stuffed with a ragout of oxtail,

capped with bone marrow and then roasted.

-Do you think you've made it too simple?

-No!

THEY LAUGH

It sounds phenomenal.

So, once again, Mark's doing so many components

and having so many different cooking techniques.

I just hope he stays true to his style

and he cooks everything perfectly.

Next is Chris McGowan, who's hoping he can repeat the success

he enjoyed in last year's competition.

Last year, on the regionals, I got four tens.

I want to try and do the same again this year really.

-Chris.

-Hi, Michael, how are you?

-Good, thank you, yourself?

-Yeah, good.

-You're feeling good going into the main course?

I am. I care passionately about this dish

and about the produce that I'm using.

What is this dish? What's it called?

-This is For Rib And The Empire.

-Rib And The Empire.

Yeah, this is a play on words on the motto for the OBE,

-"For God and the Empire".

-So, what are you cooking?

We've got the rack of venison, which I'm just going to roast simply.

I've got some haunch here, which I'm going to slow-braise

and then I'm going to use that to stuff a slow-roasted onion.

And then we're going to take a bit of the liver,

some of the venison trim and we're going to make a sausage from that.

-OK.

-This is a whisky from Connemara. It's slightly peaty, very smoky.

-OK.

So, we're just going to use a little bit of that in the sausage as well.

And then we've got some beetroots

and I'm going to lightly smoke the beetroots.

-And then just kale, and that's it really.

-Sounds exciting. Mark?

-Sounds beautiful.

-Good luck.

-Thank you very much.

From what Chris has said about his dish, it's got some great flavours.

He's got smoked beetroot, homemade sausage with the whisky in it,

and I think, if he pulls this off, it could be his day.

Last up is Eddie Atwell.

Having been marked down for a fish course

that was lacking in character and considered too classical,

he's determined to show more of his personality today.

The main course is really going to be a reflection on my cooking,

with the growing and the local and the foraging.

I'll show that today and hopefully nail it.

Eddie, how are you feeling about yesterday?

Yeah, I can take it on the chin.

It was probably out of my depth, but today, this is my thing.

-So, what's the dish called?

-The Bounty Of Baronscourt.

-Baronscourt is...?

-Baronscourt is a stately home

with royal links in Northern Ireland.

The link, for me, is the love of the countryside.

You have so many country estates.

We get this great produce and great trees from it.

-What are you actually cooking?

-I'm cooking venison.

-Chris is cooking venison, also.

-Chris is on venison too, yeah.

-I'm using the short saddle.

-Yeah.

I'll take the loins off the short saddle

and they'll go into vac pack bags.

Little bit of the dulse and some butter.

I'll be using that as my seasoning. It's a coastal seaweed from Ireland.

-Right.

-The next bit will be the actual haunch,

-so that's going to be browned, then in the pressure cooker.

-OK.

-So, the garnish is the humble kale for me.

-And with these carrots?

Carrots, I'll be steaming those in the bag, using a bit of the dulse.

I'll be making a wee carrot powder

and a little jam for a bit of piquancy to the dish.

-The main starch, for me, is the dock pudding.

-What is dock pudding?

Dock pudding, for me,

we're kicking off with barley and then it'll be finished through

with the nettles with docks and the wild garlic as well.

Is this a pudding like a Christmas pudding, a suet pudding?

No, it'll be loose, more like a risotto,

-but we're using pearl barley.

-Excellent.

-This looks more like you, Eddie.

-I hope so.

-Don't you agree?

-Totally.

The ingredients and the technique, it just sounds fantastic.

-OK, guys, let's see some great food.

-Absolutely, cheers, Chef.

Really great to see Eddie cooking the food that he wants to cook.

You could see when he looks at the box of ingredients

that that's where his heart is

and, coming off the back of his low fish score,

I think he could really improve on this.

As cooking gets under way,

Chris's impressive track record in the main course

is the talk of the kitchen.

Last year, I got four tens for my main course in the judges' chamber.

You got four tens last year?

You'll get four tens this week, even before you GET to the chamber!

Not the way I'm feeling today.

Mark is the only chef cooking beef for his main.

He's using five different parts of the Wagyu -

the rump, the bone marrow, the tongue, tendons and the tail.

What's your big worry today?

I'm leaving the water bath to the side today.

Going old-school. I'll cook it in the pan.

If you don't get that cooking right, it's game over, isn't it?

For the tail, Mark sweats down diced vegetables,

then reduces a little vinegar,

before adding garlic and fresh herbs.

In a separate pan, Mark browns the tail,

before adding to the vegetables,

along with a veal stock and red wine, and leaves to simmer.

This Wagyu is special and I'm here to glorify this animal.

Next, Mark prepares the tendons,

by slicing as thinly as possible and dehydrating.

He'll deep-fry and season at the last minute.

He also prepares his rump cap.

He'll roast half and then use the rest for the tartare.

Me and Eddie are behind, so we're pushing on.

We know we need to catch up. We can't let you get out of sight.

Me and Eddie did contemplate locking you in your room last night.

I wondered who was outside my door at two o'clock in the morning!

Both Eddie and Chris have chosen to use venison in their dishes.

I think I missed the brief this year.

I didn't know we were all supposed to do venison.

-Did you not know this is a venison show?

-No.

-OK.

Especially the haunch as well.

Chris is serving his venison three ways - as a roasted rack,

as a filling for a hollowed onion and as a sausage.

Chris is banging out about 14 different things.

He's turning into Mark today. You know what I mean?

First, he trims his rack of venison.

For the stuffed onion filling, Chris adds browned venison haunch

to a pressure cooker with softened vegetables,

then fresh thyme, juniper berries, port, red wine and venison stock,

before leaving to braise.

Eddie is also working on his venison,

preparing both the loin and the shoulder.

Having been marked down for being too classical,

Eddie has gone back to cooking from the heart.

This is the main course. If I don't do well on this one,

I might as well sign myself off.

But I'm still here, I still want to cook for these guys here,

but the push is on, the push is on.

Back in Northern Ireland, Eddie went to Altnagelvin Hospital in Belfast

to meet a great Briton -

a woman who wanted to be a nurse from the age of three.

Cathy Glass was awarded an MBE for her work saving patient lives

by cutting hospital waiting times.

This is where I worked as a ward sister.

At that time, we had a lot of patients

waiting for a long, long time,

so I came out of my ward sister's role

and came into a management role

to try and change some of those things.

You've seen a positive impact on the results?

Our patients get to surgery quickly, but we're also able to show

that there are less people who actually die after hip surgery,

because people wait for surgery for a long time and they can die waiting

and we've shown the reduction in mortality because of that.

So, it was nice to get an MBE

to show the appreciation for the work you have done here.

How did that feel for you to receive that?

It was a real surprise, because I just got a letter in the post.

I had no knowledge it was going to come

or that anybody had nominated me,

but it's been great for the team here to get it as well,

cos they all celebrated with me.

-Is that the award there?

-Yeah, this is it.

-This is what I received on the day.

-Fantastic.

-It's nice, isn't it?

-Lovely.

-I keep it open all the time, see it all the time.

As Eddie's dish pays homage to the hard work and commitment

of everyday great Britons, like Cathy,

he wanted her verdict on his venison and dock pudding.

So many things that I've never tried before but they are just delicious.

Do you reckon this will get me to the banquet?

I can't imagine anything that would be any better.

In the kitchen, Eddie works on his braised venison.

To diced vegetables, he adds browned venison haunch,

before seasoning with fresh thyme and rosemary.

Finally, he pours in fresh blackberries, port and red wine.

Eddie, what's your risk today, boss?

Trying not to take too many risks, but the same as always -

a piece of venison, you know yourself, you can dry it out.

He then starts a venison sauce, before moving onto something

veteran Michael has never eaten before - dock pudding.

-Eddie.

-How are you?

-What are you making?

-I have a nice stock on.

I'm getting on with dock pudding.

It's seasoned with dried leaves, some nettles, the docks.

That's going to go through the barley.

I'm sweating off some cabbage,

bit of leek and some soft-boiled eggs to bind through.

So, the dried dock leaves - these are kind of a herb

-that's going through it?

-As I said, it's almost a spice.

You get that wee tang of the nettles.

-Quite a lot going on - under control?

-There is.

I think I'm more under control anyway.

It's feels a couple of degrees lower, so...

-You're getting used to it, Chef.

-Maybe, or maybe I've no sweat left.

Mark is busy preparing his vegetable accompaniments.

To represent the maize that's fed to Wagyu cattle,

he's serving sweetcorn three ways - as a dehydrated powder,

a pickled and charred salad and scorched baby corn.

He also works on his Wagyu tongue...

-The Wagyu, yeah.

-Thanks, Chef. That's beautiful.

..and renders down bone marrow, which he'll turn into a foam.

Mark, what are you up to? What are you on with?

Here's the Wagyu tongue, which we talked about earlier.

-Would you like to taste a bit?

-I'd love to.

-Guys, have you tried this tongue?

-I have indeed.

-Yeah.

-Hang on - I gave you two tens and you gave them the tongue first?

-Yes.

-OK.

-OK.

-So, remind me.

Literally going to put that inside a little feuilles de brick

with the tartare on the bottom, covered with the tongue.

-So, it'll be like a little crispy parcel?

-Exactly.

-And you're happy with that?

-I'm very happy with that.

-Yeah?

Next, Mark makes the pastry case for his feuilles de brick,

then bakes in the oven, while he prepares the Wagyu rump tartare.

Chris has started work on his venison sausages,

which he flavours with white pepper,

paprika, ground juniper and Irish whisky.

Now for the tricky part...

-Argh!

-..filling the sausage skins.

Oh, please, come on. Play the game.

Next, he smokes his beetroot

and stuffs the onions with the braised venison mix.

What have you got ready?

-This is the venison sausage.

-What have you got in this?

We've got a bit of diced liver, we've got those oats

and the whisky from Connemara in there.

We've got some onion, a bit of back fat, obviously the venison trim.

-We do it in a Cumberland sausage style format, you know.

-Yeah.

These are the slow-roasted onions. The haunch has been braised down,

little brunoise of celeriac and carrot in there.

The mashed potato will cover that?

Yeah, going to pipe that over the top,

like a little shepherd's pie. But rather than in a dish,

-let the onion be the vessel for it.

-OK.

Eddie is serving his venison with carrots three ways -

braised, as a dehydrated powder and, most unusually, as a jam.

-So that's a jam?

-Like a marmalade more than anything, really.

One of the elements of Eddie's dish is a carrot jam.

I was really concerned, cos when I hear the word "Jam",

I just think sweetness and I thought it was going to be too sweet.

But it's actually really delicious. It's got a bit of cooking to do

but I'd like to see the finished product.

Mark's first to serve his Grazed For Glory,

showcasing five different parts of Wagyu beef.

He finishes by stuffing his king oyster mushrooms

and sears the rump in the pan.

Feuilles de brick pastry, filled with Wagyu rump tartare

and a slice of Wagyu tongue, is served on a bed of onion cress.

First onto the plate, white mushroom puree,

topped with shredded braised Wagyu tail

and salad of pickled and charred sweetcorn with chopped corn nuts.

OK, Mark, you're due at the pass now.

Sorry, Chef, I'm going to be one minute to the pass, please.

Next, a king oyster mushroom,

served with Wagyu tail mix and a disc of seared bone marrow.

That looks incredible, man.

On with charred baby corn and watercress leaves

and slices of Wagyu rump.

Whipped smoked bone marrow is next, a drizzle of Wagyu jus...

-Mark, you're three minutes over now.

-On the pass now, Chef.

..and a dusting of corn powder,

topped with a shard of crispy Wagyu tendon.

-Happy?

-Happy, Chef.

-Chefs?

-It looks a stunning piece of food again.

Looks incredible, yeah. So many elements again.

-Well, it looks great, but proof's in the flavour.

-Yes, Chef.

-Shall we go and taste this?

-Yes, please.

-Happy how it went?

-I'm very happy, yeah.

-Shall we try this first?

-I'm going to get on that one there.

This is the tongue.

And you're happy with the contrast of the cooked and the raw?

With the tongue, for me, it's the most intense I've ever tasted it.

That counteracts with the rawness of the beef.

-That's fun.

-It's a nice blend.

-Yeah.

And the cuisson or temperature of the beef -

-is that what you were looking to achieve?

-Yes.

In the way I like to eat Wagyu, the cooking of that is perfect.

-That's good.

-It holds so much moisture inside, doing that.

-Yeah.

-This is the mock bone marrow.

-Yeah, that's a king oyster mushroom.

The texture of that mushroom - is that what you were looking for?

Yeah, it holds a lot of moisture.

I like the way it plays along with the depth of the oxtail.

I'm not the biggest lover of the oyster mushroom,

in that it can be a bit chewy for me.

-This is your tendons?

-Yes, Chef.

CRUNCHING

Are you happy with how they've turned out?

Yeah, I'm very happy with them.

It's good. It does exactly what it says on the tin, doesn't it?

Talk me through the salad, cos there's a bit going here.

Yeah, you get the white mushroom puree at the bottom.

The sweetcorn - we've got some blow-torched

and then some lightly pickled.

That's nice, isn't it?

-Nice crispy bits through there too. Nice blend.

-Definitely.

If this dish was to make it to the banquet,

do you think they'd be able to eat that plate of food

-and understand the story that you were telling?

-Yes, I do.

-Score?

-Just for a couple of wee niggles, still a nine.

-I still think that's absolute quality.

-Yeah. I'd go an eight.

I'm really happy with that dish. I feel that's a ten.

Chris is next to plate up his dish, For Rib And The Empire.

-All right, chief? How are you doing?

-Yeah.

-What did you think?

-Another fantastic piece of cooking, mate.

-It's hard to fault.

Onto a board, Chris's take on shepherd's pie -

baked onion, stuffed with a venison haunch ragout,

topped with mashed potato.

Chris, it looks like you're pulling out all the stops today, mate.

I've seen what's been produced in this kitchen over the last two days.

If I'm going to be in the game, I've got to raise the game.

First onto the plate, beetroot smoked with chamomile and pine,

crispy kale and a grating of fresh hazelnut.

-Would one of you guys bring me in the trolley?

-Spaceship.

Chris covers the plate with a cloche and pipes in more smoke.

Definitely a dramatic entrance, isn't it?

Don't know if I expect Mork to jump out of it or what.

Onto a sharing board goes Chris's handmade venison sausage,

flavoured with Irish whisky, followed by a rack of venison.

A venison sauce with fresh blackberries is served separately.

That was quite a dramatic entrance, Chris.

Listen, we're there to spoil the great Britons and, hopefully,

-that's what I've done today.

-Chefs, what do you think?

-Impressive.

It's certainly dramatic and it looks completely stunning.

-Got you worried?

-Yes.

-Let's go and eat this.

-OK.

As a main course

for a banquet for Great Britain,

you think this hits the brief?

-You think they'll understand it?

-I hope so.

The title and also how we bring it out on the trolley,

there's a sense of occasion to that.

For me, this nails the brief. I think we should start with this.

-It just wants to be eaten, doesn't it?

-Yeah.

-So, this is baked onions, slow-baked onions.

-Look at that.

-Not too sticky.

-No, not for me, no, Chef.

You get the venison flavour, sweetness of the onion,

which is cooked to perfection.

-You get a wee pop of carrot every so often.

-It's beautiful.

Do you think that would be easy enough for people to eat?

I think so. I could have put it in a pot,

but I just wanted to do something different.

-Do you get the whisky flavour in that sausage?

-I think so, Chef.

There is nothing more you can comment on that sausage

-except stunning. Perfection.

-It's fantastic.

-And finally, onto the rib.

-Mm-hmm.

-Yep.

-Star of the show.

-Yeah, I think so.

It cuts like butter.

And you get that real good char on the outside as well.

Onto the beetroot. Can you taste that smokiness?

I do, Chef, yeah, I get it.

-This is a plate of food that you want another one.

-Absolutely.

-So, what would YOU score it?

-I'd love to get a nine.

There's only one score I can give that and that's ten all day long.

Last to the pass is Eddie, with his dish, Bounty Of Baronscourt.

He finishes his loin of venison in the pan

and cooks the last of the kale with the heritage carrots.

-Faultless.

-Yeah?

-That's perfection on a plate.

Really? Good man. That means a lot.

First onto a board is lichen moss,

followed by kale and the shoulder of Baronscourt venison.

What's that you're rolling it in, Eddie?

My puffed barley, I'm not going to lie - it didn't puff.

Eddie garnishes with more lichen moss, Douglas fir and carrot puree.

Onto a plate, Eddie's dock pudding -

cooked barley, flavoured with dried foraged dock leaves and nettles.

-Everything OK, Eddie?

-Yeah, all good.

Next, more kale, heritage carrots

and slices of venison loin, rolled in dehydrated carrot powder.

Eddie finishes the plate and the board with carrot jam.

Venison and blackberry sauce is served in mini saucepans.

Us to share this one, yeah. That's a little braise.

You're a grafter, Eddie, look at that. Gents, thoughts?

-I think it'll taste amazing.

-This is the man himself on a plate.

-Shall we go and eat this?

-Absolutely.

-Main course done.

-Yeah, finally.

-Feeling better?

-Much better now.

-I've been wanting to try... this dock pudding.

-Dock.

Do you think you can taste those herbs, those dock leaves?

It's a blend of a mix together, you know.

Textually, it's nice, but I don't get the dock, I don't get it.

-I'm completely the same. It's not blowing me away.

-Yeah.

The venison. The cooking temperature -

-are you happy with that?

-Yeah, I am a bit.

-He's cooked it on the rare side, which I absolutely love.

-Yeah.

I think he's got that spot-on.

-This is the carrot jam.

-That's the carrot jam or marmalade.

It's quite a bitty consistency. Is that what you wanted?

I wanted it to filter through the dish.

I think it marries well with the haunch.

We've got the braised venison. On the outside?

As I said, hands up, my barley didn't pop as I wanted it to.

-MARK:

-To be honest, I really like it.

-There's a nutty flavour to it.

It's lovely.

If you had to score it out of ten?

I'd like to give it an eight or a nine this time.

-Hello, Chefs.

-How are you, mate?

-I enjoyed it.

-Yeah?

I enjoyed cooking that.

-We could see that that was you on a plate.

-That's good.

There was a lot of love in there. For the food anyway.

There's no love lost for you, with two tens, do you know what I mean?

It's like that, is it?

-Hello, Chefs.

-Hello.

-Hello, Chef.

I'm going to start with you, Mark, and your dish, Grazed For Glory.

The Wagyu beef was cooked perfectly

and I also enjoyed the bone marrow espuma.

The charred baby corn - I thought that was delicious

and it tasted almost more of sweetcorn than sweetcorn itself.

It really elevated it.

The tendons were crispy and I thought that really clever.

But...to me, although the tongue, it shone,

but I didn't have enough of it.

Most of all, I think, if it were to go to a banquet,

the guests wouldn't understand the different elements

or where it was coming from. I think it needs some visual key,

because it is unusual and it is clever cooking.

Next, Chris, and your dish, For Rib And The Empire.

I loved the presentation.

It added a kind of regal feel to it that I think really hits the brief.

The sausage was phenomenal. I really enjoyed the taste of that whisky.

I think, also, making that sausage from scratch

shows a real craft and a real artistry to it.

The slow-cooked haunch in the onion - exceptional.

The venison, I thought, was cooked beautifully,

and the beetroot actually benefitted from the smoke.

And finally, Eddie, with your dish, Bounty Of Baronscourt.

It was great to see you back cooking your type of food.

I loved the braised venison.

One of my favourite elements was actually the carrot jam.

I liked how coarse it was and, you're right,

it does run through the whole dish.

The dock pudding was very unusual for me.

I'd not tasted that before, but I enjoyed it.

However, I think the presentation let you down on this.

I know the look that you wanted was that forest floor look.

It's not somewhere I want to eat from.

It tasted much better than it looked

and I think, if you can refine that presentation,

you could score highly with this one.

To the scores.

Eddie, I'm scoring you...

..eight.

Mark...

..I'm giving you a score...

..of nine.

Chris, for your dish...

..I'm giving you a ten.

I thought that was an exceptional plate of food

and I thought it was bang on brief. Congratulations.

-Thank you very much.

-Well deserved.

-Thank you, Chef.

-Top man. Well deserved.

-So, we're past the halfway mark.

-I'm looking forward to desserts.

-Thank you.

-Thanks, Chef.

-Good luck.

-Thank you, Chef.

With only one course to go,

Eddie remains in third place.

Mark still leads, while Chris is second.

A ten! I can't believe it. Absolutely blown away by it.

-All great scores.

-'Michael, he felt I didn't nail the brief.'

I can understand where he's coming from

and that's where the point's been lost.

-No-one's dead in the water yet.

-No. All to play for.

For my main course, I'm over the moon. It's fantastic.

Again, what a standard in there. Unbelievable.