Finals Main Great British Menu

It's national finals week on Great British Menu...

Got a little bit of the shakes.

..and for our eight regional champions, the competition is on.

I came here to get to the banquet.

This is actually my strongest dish.

You love making work for yourself.

If it's going to be easy, what's the point?

Can't think of anything better for a banquet with great Britons.

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 the ultimate banquet at the Palace of Westminster.

The banquet was always going to be at somewhere special,

but I never thought it was going to be anywhere that special.

It's butterflies in your stomach. What an opportunity.

It's going to be a fight, isn't it?

Mark Abbott's starter has already made the final menu...

Congratulations.

..and yesterday's fish course saw Phil Carmichael...

It was just a little miracle.

..Tommy Banks...

So, you think you nailed it(?)

..and Michael Bremner...

There's nothing wrong with it and there's everything right with it.

..make the shortlist...

-Well done.

-Well done, mate.

..while starter winner Mark Abbott and second-placed Mark Froydenlund

ended up at the bottom of the leaderboard.

What a shocker.

Today, it's the main course.

The judges are expecting contemporary cooking

reflecting how British cuisine has changed during the Queen's reign.

It's eye-openingly good.

-I think it's perfection.

-It's a ten.

With only two chances left to make the shortlist...

Yeah, I'm quite concerned. The standard's massive.

..the competition is getting fiercer.

That's jaw-droppingly good.

But only the finest dishes will reach the banquet.

It's only just edible.

If you talk to me any more, it'll be a four.

You just never know with the way the judges are going this week.

We've decided that...

To get a dish on the main course shortlist,

the chefs need to impress judges Prue Leith,

Matthew Fort and Oliver Peyton with food that's a fitting legacy

to the modern Elizabethan age.

Well, we've had a couple of days of absolutely exceptional food.

We've got one dish for certain, and then we've got a choice of three.

So it'll be interesting to see what will happen today.

Those three chefs who made it onto the fish shortlist yesterday

are Phil Carmichael, Michael Bremner and Tommy Banks.

I thought all the dishes yesterday were brilliant.

-I'm really, genuinely over the moon.

-It's very humbling to be up there.

Yeah, but that was yesterday, guys. We're onto the main course.

-It's the big one, isn't it?

-Yeah.

I think the pressure of the kitchen is bringing out the best of me.

If I go on the shortlist again today, I'll be on cloud nine.

There are some new dishes here,

because there were a few we didn't like,

and they've changed them completely.

So any of these chefs could pull it off.

Two chefs making big changes to their main courses

are Adam Reid and Mark Abbott.

-Morning, chefs. How are you feeling this morning?

-Today is a new dish.

Completely changed the ingredients.

Clearly, it worked for you yesterday, getting into the shortlist.

If you didn't get a great mark in the regionals,

there's no point flogging a dead horse.

I've completely changed my main as well, this time around.

I've changed my dish as well. Completely.

It feels to me like it's gearing up

to be the most exciting menu we've ever done.

I think the chefs feel that as well.

They sense the competition and how good they need to cook.

Last to arrive are Mark Froydenlund, Josh Eggleton and Danny Gill.

Morning.

They received some of the highest scores for their main courses

in the regional heats.

I'm really excited about today. This is what I'm pinning my hopes on.

We all want to be there at the banquet,

but to be able to cook the main course at the Palace of Westminster

-would just be something else.

-Fingers crossed I'm going to be able

to get some high marks again.

I'm looking forward to getting my head down on this one.

I might not be talking too much. I need to concentrate.

That would be nice, actually!

Helping to choose the main course for the banquet

is guest judge John Williams MBE,

executive head chef at London's Ritz,

the only hotel in the UK with a Royal Warrant for banqueting.

John, good to see you again.

-Matthew, good to see you.

-Oliver.

-Oliver.

-Prue.

-Prue.

John helped put the north-east's Tommy Banks through to the finals.

Are you ready for a feast?

Oh, most certainly.

Part of your remit as the head chef at the Ritz is cooking banquets.

What is the grandest banquet you've ever been responsible for?

I have done a birthday party for the Queen,

where we did 400 covers, and that was pretty amazing.

Most of our guests are going to have gongs from the Queen

-for one thing and another.

-And I think we need the finest,

most magnificent meal that these people have ever had.

I'm looking for something that really excites me on the palate.

I want some drama.

Food that is very, very contemporary and modern

and relevant for today's diner.

First into the kitchen are Phil Carmichael, from Wales,

London and the south-east's Mark Froydenlund

and the north-east's Tommy Banks.

-Good luck, guys.

-Good luck, Mark.

Mark, me and Tommy managed to make it onto the shortlist

for the fish yesterday.

You were super close for the starter,

but then you crashed out.

Sorry.

Uh...

Come on, Phil.

From being in the top two to being in last place

was really hard, actually, but this has always been my strongest dish,

so I'm really hoping it's going to work well for me today.

With your current form, you're either hero or zero, aren't you?

-Exactly, yes.

-The whole week so far, we're only halfway through,

has been such a roller-coaster.

Phil is first to cook.

Yesterday's '70s-inspired fish course impressed the judges,

who enjoyed the luxurious langoustine

and tangy sauce in his take on a prawn cocktail.

I'm feeling good about yesterday, but today is different.

It's a completely different ballgame.

In the regional heats, veteran judge Michael Smith suggested

Phil swap his starter and main courses.

Phil failed to cook his starter well this week.

He can't afford to make any mistakes

with his Indian-inspired main course.

This dish was originally my starter.

My starter that I swapped around worked amazingly in the regions,

not so much in finals. So, hopefully, I can pull this off.

Phil's Indian Love Affair celebrates diversity in British cuisine

with spiced quail, lentils, onion bhajis and pastry poppadoms.

Have you had an Indian love affair?

No, I have not, no.

Last time, the judges marked Phil down for undercooked quail.

Our first date with this Indian Love Affair didn't go down too well.

I gave it an eight. This lot gave it a seven.

We're really looking for the nine and ten.

Tens, ten. Stop all that nines business.

-MATTHEW:

-I thought he didn't do too many favours

in terms of presentation.

I think that needs to be dramatised.

But I think that he handled the spicing on the quail really well.

So, we saw your shiny disco balls yesterday, Phil.

Have you got anything out there for us today?

Not really, no. I've changed the presentation slightly.

I've put it on a different plate. Serving it differently.

Hopefully, the judges will appreciate the changes.

There's no great romance between the different parts of the dish,

and that's what he's got to make work today.

My main objection, if I remember rightly,

was that I wanted more onion bhaji.

But, anyhow, they were delicious, the bhajis.

It certainly sounds like a dish that can come together and score well.

Phil's serving the dish on new black plates

for a more dramatic presentation. First is mango chutney.

He's decided against a puree, instead, keeping it textured.

Next, quail breast,

onion bhajis,

and quail legs, which he's serving without the bhaji batter.

Can you put three onion bhajis into each of those white pots, please?

As they went down so well in the heats,

Phil's serving extra onion bhajis today.

Phil dresses his plates with lentils in a spiced tomato sauce,

and extra sauce without the lentils.

-You all good there, Phil?

-Yeah, just about.

You're looking good.

Mini pastry poppadoms are next.

Do you find this romantic, Phil?

PHIL LAUGHS

Do you find it romantic, Mark?

-It's kind of sexy, I suppose.

-It's definitely hot, isn't it?

-Hmm.

A new addition of fresh yoghurt

provides a garnish, along with coriander shoots.

Larger poppadoms are served in bags.

OK. Thank you.

-Well done, Phil.

-Whoo!

-Well done.

Is that how you wanted it?

I've done all I can to make sure that plate of food

is as tasty as I can make it.

-Thank you very much.

-Oh.

-Oh, yum, doesn't that smell good?

Black plate. It has a real sense of drama to it now.

Visually, it looks absolutely amazing.

-Yeah.

-It smells great.

-Yes, it does.

The bhaji is nice and crisp as I cut through it.

I think the bhajis are delicious.

The stranding with the onions, but then there's a really light,

-crisp batter on it.

-It's got a nice spice to it as well.

I think it's possibly slightly over-spiced.

I don't think it's over-spiced. I think it enhances the quail.

It's really nicely cooked, isn't it?

You're struggling to get the meat across

because there are so many other beautiful strong flavours coming through.

That mango is way too sweet.

Overwhelmingly too sweet.

First dish in, what would you give it as a score?

I really wouldn't give it more than seven.

John, you know we have to take the chefs' votes into account?

They also judge their fellows.

Do they judge differently, do you feel?

-Yes.

-Yes, they jolly well do.

The average of the chefs' scores

will be combined with the judges'

and could determine the dishes in contention

for the final banquet menu.

I'm going to have to go with a seven, I think.

I'm going to give it a seven as well.

I gave it an eight before. I'm going to stick with an eight.

Palace of Westminster, large number of great Britons,

it's the main course, it's the main event, I'm not completely sold,

but I hate to have to say that because it was so tasty.

I feel a great warmth and affection for this Indian Love Affair,

but I don't feel that deep and abiding passion,

so I'm going to give it seven.

Next up is Michelin-starred Tommy Banks.

The newcomer's starter underwhelmed,

but the judges loved the flavours and execution of his fish course

and it made it onto the shortlist.

In the regional heats, his main course scored highly,

both with the veteran and the judges.

You're confident this will get you onto another shortlist?

I hope so but, as we know, the standard's incredible, isn't it?

This competition's insanely hard, it's high pressure,

but every morning I just want to get up, come back and have another go.

Hoping to hit perfect tens,

Tommy's Beef At The Cutting Edge

showcases modern Wagyu Aberdeen-Angus sirloin.

Like his other courses,

he's championing home-grown and local produce.

This beef is from my village.

-Oh, wow.

-So I know the farmer very well.

What he's doing is really great.

It really shows that at the cutting edge of British farming now,

we grow some of the best beef in the world,

and I wanted to showcase that.

Guest judge John has tasted Tommy's dish before

and is expecting high quality.

I was very impressed with Tommy,

I loved the way his whole philosophy

was to source everything from around where he was cooking.

It's a dish of great potential and I don't think it was quite realised

in its first outing.

I gave it a ten because it was packed with flavour.

It was definitely potentially a banquet dish.

Tommy is keeping the dish the same, and hoping perfect execution

will be enough to win over the judges.

First onto the plates are roasted cabbage hearts finished in butter.

-How's it going Tommy?

-Yeah, all right.

-The beef looks amazing.

-Yeah, looks beautiful.

Tommy seasons his Angus Wagyu sirloin with wild garlic capers.

Hen-of-the-wood mushrooms

and nasturtium leaves are next onto the plates.

Are they your own nasturtiums?

Yeah, I just took them off the plant earlier.

-They wilt so quickly, it's great to be able to have some fresh.

-Yeah.

Nasturtium flowers add colour.

-What's that you've got there?

-It's an emulsion of lovage and wild garlic.

Tommy's only change is to serve smaller portions

of roasted bone marrow on the side.

Lovage oil finishes the dish.

Thank you.

We've got some Sheffield steel steak knives as well, to eat them with,

a bit more of Yorkshire's finest.

-Cheers.

-Chief, that looks absolutely delicious. I can't wait to try that.

-Oh, wow.

-Lovely.

-Haven't really changed it a lot.

Just tried to execute the best I can.

One of the nicest looking plates of food all week, I think.

Oh, flowers.

Sometimes, when you see a piece of meat, you just want to tuck into it.

It just melts in your mouth. It's perfect.

Mmm! This is just delicious.

This is as good a steak as you're ever going to eat, I think,

in this country. It's really well done.

He glazed the top of the cabbage with cooking liquor

and a bit of reduced chicken stock as well.

That's made a phenomenal flavour to it.

The lovage mayonnaise is absolutely superb.

-I should think the flavour of the lovage is a bit too strong for the beef.

-Yeah, it is.

Quite a lingering flavour.

It is just beautiful food, treated with such respect.

I think it's perfection.

The only thing is that little element of fat content.

It is just a little touch over, but it is divine.

Bone marrow, that's, like, super rich.

-Great flavour in that, though.

-I can't fault this plate of food.

I think this is modern food in Britain today

and I can't knock any element on that plate.

-I'd give it a nine.

-I agree with you.

In a heartbeat, I'd give this a nine.

That is a big fat ten.

I'm going to go with ten as well.

Lovage slightly overwhelming, I'm going to give it a seven.

Mark Froydenlund is next to cook his main course,

a celebration of humanely reared British rose veal,

a positive to come out of the foot-and-mouth outbreak in 2001.

The journey these farmers have been on is incredible.

Their whole herd was completely lost during the foot-and-mouth crisis.

-Terrible.

-Their way of life just gone, like that.

And ever since then, they say they'd never waste a healthy animal,

and that's the result of the veal.

After losing their entire dairy herd,

the farmers couldn't face needlessly destroying any more animals,

so decided to diversify.

Rather than slaughtering the male calves that can't be milked,

they now rear them for meat.

I can't think of anything better for a banquet with great Britons.

British farmers, you know,

they're certainly the unsung heroes of our industry.

That's fantastic. Not a lot of people know about rose veal,

and it's a fantastic product,

definitely something that should be championed.

Mark's cooking is phenomenal.

I really enjoy his sort of style of food.

I feel like there's a lot of people taking a lot of risks this year.

The thing is, in this competition,

if you're not putting yourself out there,

-you're not going to be hitting them scores.

-No.

That's how tough this is this week.

After his starter lost out to Mark Abbott's banquet-winning dish

and his fish course came last,

Mark is hoping that his celebration of rose veal

will be a hit with the judges again

after they loved the flavours in the regional heats.

It's my highest-scoring dish on the menu.

-OK.

-So if I'm not on the shortlist with this,

I'll be really disappointed.

Veal is a tricky meet to cook, because it can so easily go tough.

On this occasion, it really was absolutely, wonderfully tender.

It had a barbecue sauce that was the most delicious, interesting sauce

with lots of depth of flavour. Just perfect.

Interestingly, I don't actually use rose veal in the Ritz.

-Why?

-I haven't had veal that's excited me yet.

It is an eminently banquet-able dish.

An amazingly skilful, intelligent dish.

I'm sure you're going to like it.

Well, I'm full of anticipation.

You've got my gastric juices going already.

Broccoli puree is first on Mark's plates,

with roasted carrots rolled in pine nuts and carrot powder,

and a decorative spare rib bone.

I'm liking the look of that carrot steak.

Raw chestnut is next...

..with black garlic puree and braised broccoli stem

rolled in crispy broccoli.

-You happy with that, Mark?

-Yeah, really happy with the veal.

It's a nice colour.

Mark garnishes with wild herbs

and serves the veal rib cooked in barbecue sauce alongside the fillet.

Veal sauce is served on the side.

This is in memory to the cows that were lost

during the foot-and-mouth crisis,

which led to the farmers rearing this veal.

-Thank you.

-That looks lovely.

-Bang on.

-Thanks.

A serious, serious plate of food.

That looks amazing.

So are you happy with everything that's on the plate?

It looked amazing.

I think it looks absolutely delicious.

Looks great, smells great.

It's got a great story.

The rib is wonderful. He's done an amazing job there.

-The flavour in the rib's outstanding.

-Yeah.

-That, you know, melt-in-your-mouth sort of stuff...

-That's beautiful.

The barbecue sauce hasn't overpowered

the delicate flavour of the loin or the broccoli or anything.

The barbecue sauce, if anything, is even better. Just wonderful.

It's perfection.

The cooking of the veal is absolutely on point.

To me, cooked perfectly, great flavour.

He did say it was his strongest dish.

I'm glad, cos if he's got a better dessert than that, I'm going home.

The thing that I love the most on this dish is the raw chestnut.

It's the most unexpected thing on that plate.

-PRUE:

-Love the black garlic puree.

I love the idea of the carrot rolled in the pine nuts.

-I'm giving it a ten.

-I'll give it a ten as well.

-Easy.

-Ten. Everything was perfect.

John, looking at your plate, I can see not a scrap of meat on it.

Does this mean you are a convert to rose veal?

He's definitely converted me, because that is superb.

It was absolutely delicious.

It's a ten.

It's amazing, I love it.

Ten.

11, 12, 15.

THEY LAUGH

Scotland's Michael Bremner and Northern Ireland's Mark Abbott

are the next chefs in the kitchen.

-Well, boss, good luck, sir.

-Good luck, mate.

The main course is what everyone wants.

-It's the one.

-We're cooking for the very best of Britain and we have to

give them the very best meal, don't we?

Mark already knows he's cooking at the banquet,

and Michael's on the fish course shortlist,

but neither are relaxing.

They're both preparing brand-new dishes,

just like Tommy did with his fish course yesterday.

So the veteran gave me a nine for it, but the judges didn't like it.

So, therefore, I thought, "Let's scrap it and start afresh."

I didn't get a good score for my main course,

even though it was my favourite dish.

-Which was quite gutting.

-Yeah, I understand that, totally.

Look at yesterday, for example.

-Yeah.

-Your brand-new dish - straight onto the top list.

-Yeah.

A weak dish is not going to go to the banquet.

You make a change like that, you put yourself back in the mix, don't you?

Three other chefs hoping to impress with their main courses

are Josh Eggleton, Adam Reid and Danny Gill,

who are all yet to get on a shortlist.

So, what do you think of the dishes so far today?

All three dishes this morning have been absolutely phenomenal.

Dan is up again. He's right up there.

Everything has been delicious so far.

I've said all week that my menu gets stronger as the week goes on.

Everyone would love to get the main course.

I think you can feel that added pressure in the kitchen today.

A few people are a lot quieter than normal.

Yeah.

THEY LAUGH

Michael Bremner's up next.

He's aiming to get on his second shortlist

with another dish inspired by an award-winning great Briton.

His meat dish did not meet with our approval last time.

It was a mallard, which was just awful. It's gone.

In the regionals, I got some negative comments from the judges.

I am very nervous about today

because I've heard that some of the guys

got really good scores for the main courses.

I've changed everything about my dish. I've kept the same story,

-but now I'm doing venison.

-OK.

One of the things I really like about Michael Bremner is the fact

that he's chosen all of the stories about his dishes

with really great care. In this case, he has chosen Ronnie Rose.

This is him.

He was a gamekeeper in the forest of Eskdalemuir.

He's clearly a Scotsman, but what is so special about him?

He got an MBE for his services to the wildlife and the conservation.

Michael's new version of Rose Of Eskdalemuir

has venison loin as the game element,

with a selection of vegetable accompaniments,

including sunflower seed risotto,

blue cheese croquettes, and unusual reindeer moss.

It's better to try and fail than not to have tried at all, I suppose.

We also have celery leaf puree.

That does tickle my fancy,

because I think celery goes so well with game.

And butternut squash.

Not something that inspires me in any shape or form.

Oh, I love it. I love it!

One of the worrying things about this dish,

using the loin, there's very little fat on it,

and that's a bit of a challenge, isn't it?

This is the venison loin.

-Has that been water-bathed?

-Yeah, I cooked it at 56.

-Yeah.

-Just going to pan-fry it.

It is a bit of prime meat for the water-bath treatment.

It is certainly a meat that you could water-bath.

It is not an element of cooking that I particularly enjoy.

I much prefer the fast roast, resting and serving.

-PRUE:

-How do you feel about reindeer moss?

-Do you know what it is?

-Full of anticipation.

THEY LAUGH

Michael's again serving his dish on a wooden board,

with an added rose and thistle decoration, representing the title.

-All right? Back again?

-The boards look nice, Michael.

-Thank you.

-Is that a Scottish thistle?

It is Scottish. It's very Scottish.

That must be an English rose as well, is it?

Have you got an Irish potato on there or not?

I don't have any potatoes on here, actually.

We are renowned for a lot of things other than potatoes, you know.

I can't really think of much else!

Celery leaf puree is first onto the plates,

with the reindeer moss cooked to remove the excess acids,

which makes it edible.

Washed it, blanched it and deep-fried it.

A sprinkle of cavolo nero powder is next.

Sunflower seed risotto is served on the side,

along with pickled red cabbage puree,

balls of butternut squash and blue cheese croquettes.

The venison looks good.

-Are you happy with that, Michael?

-Yeah, definitely.

That's how I like it.

Michael finishes the dish with venison sauce.

So, rose away from the guest.

If you pull out the drawer, that'd be great.

-Thank you very much.

-That looks stunning, Michael.

-Cheers.

-Wow.

-Is that what you wanted?

Yeah, that's how I've been practising to do it.

-OK.

-So I'm happy.

-MATTHEW:

-Thank you very much.

-PRUE:

-Goodness.

I think the presentation is very, very nice.

The venison is just perfect.

It is beautifully cooked.

The texture, the flavour of the venison is quite superb.

I really like that blue cheese croquette.

I honestly think the blue cheese is a bit stodgy and overpowering.

It's nice. I like it.

-I just find the croquettes are a little bit claggy.

-Yeah.

The reindeer moss, it tastes like you think moss is going to taste,

a sort of dry, leaf-mould flavour.

I don't find it that pleasant, actually.

-It is a bit bitty and stringy and it attaches in your teeth.

-It is.

Transforming red cabbage into this sort of condiment

is a really bright idea. It's eye-openingly good.

The sunflower seed risotto

is something that won't be appearing on my menu.

MATTHEW LAUGHS

-The textures are not particularly nice.

-No, it's horrible.

I just don't know whether he's pulled this one off

as well as he intended today.

I can't really give this any more than a seven.

It's only just a seven.

I think it's really good cooking and Michael has done himself proud,

but I don't think it's a banquet dish. I'm happy to give it an eight.

I cannot really give it more than a seven.

I'm going to have to give it a six.

-An eight for me, I think.

-I'm going to give it an eight as well.

It is too technically accomplished to go any lower than that.

Mark Abbott is next.

His faultless starter was fast-tracked to the banquet menu,

but his fish course flopped with the judges.

In a bid to get back to his winning ways,

he is serving a brand-new main course.

So, hopefully, it's going to get a better response

than what my initial dish did.

Mark may be used to cooking at a two Michelin star restaurant,

but for this course, he has chosen a more humble dish.

I took inspiration from peasant food.

Being from Northern Ireland,

there's only one I could think of straight away,

-and that was Irish stew.

-Delicious.

Mark Abbott has been one of the great revelations of this competition

and he is obviously a chef of tremendous skill and creativity

and personality.

He did Wagyu beef before and it just wasn't any good.

But this time, it's going to be a sort of lamb-fest.

I'm happy he's changing his dish.

All it does to me is demonstrate how competitive he is,

and I'm really excited to see it, to be frank with you.

Mark's refined take on Irish stew

is served in Guinness-and-rosemary loaves,

with lamb loin wrapped in a sweetbread and chicken mousse,

and on the side, pommes dauphine -

mashed potato and choux pastry deep-fried.

Does it suggest banquet to you?

It depends on how he serves it.

Mashed potato and potato broth, which was part of his first course,

you wouldn't have said, "That sounds like cutting edge to me."

Yet the way he transformed it, it became an absolutely modern classic.

Mark ladles his Irish stew of lamb shoulder, lamb shanks, carrots,

onions and leeks into hollowed out Guinness-and-rosemary loaves.

How is it coming together?

-Yeah, it's coming.

-It looks delicious.

Whoo!

That smells tasty.

How many elements have you got in this, mate?

A lot less than normal, mate.

-Not 50 today.

-Just double figures.

-Yeah.

Pommes dauphine are presented on the side.

Carrot puree is served in bowls.

How long have you got

-before the sauce starts leaking out of the bread?

-It doesn't.

-No?

-It absorbs and then you eat the whole thing.

-Nice.

Mousse-wrapped lamb loin completes the dish.

Bread between two. Thank you very much.

-It looks great.

-It looks amazing.

Oh, it's beautiful.

Oh, nice.

Really, really nice.

Thank you.

Now, that looks pretty cool.

This is what I like. Look at that!

I mean, that's a beast.

"Serve one another and enjoy the bread together...

"..as we celebrate the very best of Britain."

Nice. Nice touch.

I think the stew is wonderful.

Bringing it in the bread is very, very rustic.

It's very well cooked.

The meat is lovely and tender and it has a lovely flavour.

Scotch broth would be exactly along this line.

-Yeah, yeah.

-I think that's delicious.

I'm a bit disappointed in the mousse.

I think it's a bit boring and bland.

I think it's absolutely fine.

I'm not a fan of that mousse.

It's a bit grainy to me.

It's just missing a little bit of caramelisation.

Yeah, it just needs something to lift it.

The colour of that carrot puree is...impressive.

Yeah, it's the star of the show.

The dauphine potato are not quite...

It's not good. There's too much choux pastry in there.

It's too gluey. You don't need them. You've got the bread.

It's an Irish thing. You get jittery if there aren't spuds with things,

particularly with lamb.

-He gave us a masterclass in potatoes for his starter.

-Yeah.

And this isn't up to the same standard as that.

I think I'm going to go for seven with this one.

I'm going to give him an eight,

but it's not my favourite dish of the day.

With the exception of the dauphine potatoes,

I think every other element in this dish

has been cooked with absolute precision. So I will give it nine.

This is actually my least favourite dish so far.

So I'm going to have to give it my lowest score, six.

I think it's a great bit of cooking.

It's a nine from me.

The final group of chefs to cook

are south-west champion Josh Eggleton,

the north-west's Adam Reid,

and Danny Gill for central region.

-All right.

-Good luck, lads.

-All the best.

-All the best.

-Yeah, see you later.

-Have you lads got a lot to do for your main course?

-BOTH: Yeah.

-Loads.

Quite a bit. What about you?

Do you even need to ask?

All three chefs are yet to make it onto a shortlist.

I'm hoping if I can pull it off it'll get to the shortlist,

but you never know, with the way the judges are going this week.

We can't second-guess it.

-We can only do what we think is the right dish for the course.

-Yeah.

And they'll judge appropriately.

Well, the competition gets hotter and I get fatter.

I think we're in danger of having a plethora of possible contenders

-just for the shortlist.

-The quality of cooking is superb.

I think the next three people up must be slightly worried.

I think we've definitely seen some banquet-worthy dishes today.

Tommy's and Mark Froydenlund's were exceptional.

-I'm quite concerned. I think the standard's massive.

-Yeah.

It's quite easy to lose.

Danny Gill has had a tough week.

Although his starter and fish courses made the chefs' shortlists,

the judges' scores have pushed him towards the bottom.

He's desperate to rectify that with a personal main course.

My old man was in the RAF for 25 years.

-He was a chef in the forces.

-Yeah.

He cooked for royalty, cooked for all the returning troops,

and Wellington was always the one dish which he referred back to.

He actually did it with camel once.

-Camel?!

-A camel Wellington, yeah.

It's quite fitting with the brief.

Just a nod to all the people that are serving.

They go above and beyond the call of duty every single day.

This dish means the world to me.

I can't put into words what he means to me as a person,

as a role model...

Yeah.

Danny's using venison to make the Wellington,

with modern accompaniments to fit the brief.

Compressed pears with Douglas fir pine,

a pear and pine puree,

and a caramelised celeriac puree.

I've had a really up-and-down ride so far,

but I'm not going to give up.

I'm here to get to the banquet. I'm not messing about.

So is this quite a strong dish for you, then?

It went down really well.

The judges were really, really positive about it.

We loved this Wellington.

The quality of it was spectacular.

It was very good, wasn't it?

When I'm actually bringing a Wellington,

still to this day, my heart is in my mouth.

Just need to rest these bad boys now.

To have a wonderful crisp paste, a beautiful cooked piece of meat,

it takes some doing.

So this is a real test of Chef's skill?

Definitely. Definitely.

Obviously Wellington's quite difficult to cook, Danny.

Yeah.

You can't see inside, can't feel it. Can't do anything.

It's a skill. Do you think you're there?

I had a bit of a nightmare in the regions from my veteran judge.

Slightly under, my veteran judge, but I've mastered these ovens now.

So... Yeah, I'm going to be all right.

I think this was by far and away his most successful dish.

I hope that if he manages to do it again,

then we're going to have a very, very enjoyable dish indeed.

And a strong contender.

And, indeed, yet another strong contender!

Danny's two purees are first onto his plates.

Caramelised celeriac,

and pear and pine.

All right, Danny. How are you doing?

Good. You always come at the right time, don't you?

LAUGHTER

-So this is your Wellington for Mr Williams.

-It certainly is.

Are you nervous about him eating your Wellington?

-Absolutely bricking it.

-Yeah?

Danny's accompaniments are pears compressed with Douglas fir,

ceps and truffle,

dressed with wood sorrel,

toasted pine nuts

and grated truffle.

-Happy with the venison there, Danny?

-Yeah, I'm happy with that. Yeah.

The venison Wellington is last onto the plates.

OK. Thank you.

-Well done, man.

-Thank you.

-Well done, mate.

-Thank you very much.

-Yeah, it looked great.

-It does look good.

-A good Wellington, isn't it?

Hopefully that one will get me on the shortlist.

Pretty!

Fallow the Dream.

So basically these are some pictures of the old man when he was on tour.

Don't know who that handsome little chap is there.

LAUGHTER

This does seem to be the most personal of all Danny's dishes.

The venison's delicious.

Really nice.

That's got an amazing flavour.

-I think the venison's undercooked.

-It is.

-It is.

-Oh.

-The meat is just the same as it would be on the butcher's block.

-It's raw.

-Yeah.

-Do you think that's too rare?

-No, not at all.

My bit is more cooked...

-More firm.

-More than yours.

Mine was probably cut off an end.

That would only need another three minutes in the heat of the oven

to be rare, rather than raw.

Just...fractions. Fractions.

You think he's totally nailed this Wellington?

Yeah, I think it's excellent.

The celeriac puree, caramelised, is just delicious.

The mushrooms, the earthiness of the truffle,

and then the zing of the pear

really does bring this dish alive.

That pear puree...

-It's lovely.

-Yeah, it's really classy cooking.

Every single mouthful,

you're just getting hit in the face with explosions.

I really adored this because in fact my piece of venison

was clearly more cooked than yours.

Therefore, I think it should be a nine.

That is a banquet dish. You put that down in front of you...

Knock your socks off.

Potentially it could have been a banquet dish

but, you know, my meat isn't cooked.

So I can only give it a seven.

I'm going to give Dan a nine.

Yes, I think a nine's a fair score.

I'm going to give him ten.

I'm going to give him a ten as well.

That's him through to the shortlist.

I've had some of the finest flavours that I've tasted today.

However, just on the cooking alone,

I'm going to have to score an eight.

Oh, heart-breaking for Danny.

Oh, it is, without doubt.

-What did you think, then, guys?

-Lovely dish.

Really modernised that classic for me.

Brought it right up to date.

-I gave you ten, mate.

-Ten.

-Thank you very much.

-Don't think we could give anything else, mate.

-Thank you.

-It was lovely. Really, really nice.

Adam is hoping his cooking will be perfect

on a brand-new dish,

after his original main course,

a take on Sunday lunch,

was deemed too conservative by the judges

and was his lowest-scoring course in his heat.

I'm going for a theme that is a revisited recipe

from the first Elizabethan era.

And it's to really highlight the progress of the nation

to this period, which is the second Elizabeth.

The original recipe was called Collared Beef.

It was from a highly noted cookbook writer.

-Who's that?

-Called Hannah Woolley.

OK.

How Far We've Come is

a modern interpretation of the historic recipe.

The vegetable elements are turnip puree,

salt-baked turnip,

and an unusual mushroom catsup,

a very early version of ketchup.

The beef elements are short loin, and short rib,

with a crust of cloves, spices, suet and bacon.

The original recipe calls for it to be grilled with those ingredients,

braised in red wine, and hung in your chimney for a week.

-Right.

-We ain't got a chimney and I haven't got a week,

so I thought I'd barbecue it. Much easier.

So far, Adam's cooking has had mixed reviews,

and he's sat in the middle of the leaderboard.

He needs this new dish to get him onto the shortlist

for the first time.

But competition is tough amongst the chefs

and the standard is high.

I've had two favourite dishes today so far.

-I've had yours, Tommy.

-Thank you.

And...yourself as well.

Oh, you're just saying that.

-I am just saying that.

-LAUGHTER

I think you can look forward to the judging tonight.

I think you'll be right up there.

We all know the chef's shortlist can be a bit of a tough one.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what Adam's doing.

It sounds really interesting.

Manchester not only has some very fine football clubs,

but it also has some very fine chefs.

Adam Reid is one of them.

He has that feeling for local ingredients,

and he also has that sort of... technical curiosity.

He just hasn't hit the right notes yet.

We all liked his first course AND his fish course

but it wasn't the very top.

So maybe this one will be.

With the mushroom catsup and the turnips,

I'm quite excited.

First onto Adam's plates

is slow-cooked and barbecued beef short rib

with a refined spiced suet and bacon crust...

..followed by sliced beef loin

and salt-baked turnip.

Are they hen-of-the-woods mushrooms?

-Yeah.

-You know I like those.

I thought you nicked them off me when I saw your dish.

HE CHUCKLES

Turnip puree is next,

and raw turnip for texture.

Turnip seedling garnishes the dish,

with the mushroom catsup in jugs.

Adam has also changed his presentation,

to help tell the story of the dish.

OK, put the jug inside.

Recipe book from the Elizabethan times.

Open it up and you've got your new modern plate of food there

based on the recipes. OK, thank you.

-Well done, man.

-Thanks very much.

-Looks great.

-Thank you.

-Absolutely beautiful.

-Cheers, guys.

-It's a brand-new dish.

-Yeah.

-I think it came out all right.

Olde Elizabethan Recipes by Adam Reid.

Oh!

"Collared beef, a very pleasant and beneficial preparation...

"..for all ingenious peoples of our glorious Queen Elizabeth I.

"Remodelled for the great Britons of Queen Elizabeth II,

"to honour our culinary heritage and mark our gastronomic progress."

The slow-cooked beef, I think it's superb.

I love the crust.

The crumb is stodgy and uninteresting.

The beef is good beef.

A tiny bit tough. I'm not wildly enthusiastic.

The short rib is beautifully cooked,

but it just needs a little bit of extra salt just to bring it alive.

-Yeah.

-I think a combination of the mushroom catsup and the turnip

works very well.

Both the turnips are beautifully cooked, and the mushroom's good.

I like the catsup because it's full of flavour,

of a kind that we have not seen in British cooking

for at least 300 years.

And that makes it pretty contemporary by my book!

I really don't like the catsup.

-Do you not?!

-It's too powerful.

I don't think it adds anything to the meat.

I have a fundamental disagreement.

Makes the dish really interesting.

Yes, this is my favourite dish, I want to give it a ten.

-Favourite dish of the day? Really?

-Apart from yours.

THEY LAUGH

I'm going to give it an eight.

I agree with you there. I think I'm going to give it an eight.

I want to give it a nine.

It's only just edible for me.

I'm only going to give it a five.

It's... If you talk to me any more, it'll be a four.

HE LAUGHS

It frustrates me having to give him this score, but it is a seven.

I don't really like it.

I'm going to give it a six.

I'm just going to give it a big eight.

Well, here's a dish that really divides us.

Certainly does.

-That was lovely.

-Cheers, mate. Thank you.

-Really, really good.

That rib is...something else.

Last to cook today, and hoping his beef dish is up to scratch

is Michelin-starred Josh Eggleton.

Josh, it looks like you're pulling out all the pots again

-on this course.

-Top of the pots.

LAUGHTER

It's a percolator. I'm using it to infuse my beef tea, or beef broth.

Although Josh is the only chef with previous experience in the finals,

it hasn't helped him get a dish onto a shortlist.

His third-placed starter was pipped to the post

when the judges decided on an outright winner,

and his fish course missed out yesterday.

Josh Eggleton. He has been three times in this competition.

Twice to the finals.

When he comes into this room, he has that look of someone who is just,

"Why me?!"

Because he is just such a good chef.

To have the spirit to come back time and time again,

that takes some doing.

So good luck to him.

When you eat a Josh dish you don't think,

"Oh, I wonder what that's all about."

Biff, bash, bosh! You know it's from Josh!

For me, when I was thinking about our great Britons,

when you think about a great dish for a main course,

I think about beef, to be honest.

For the Heart of Britain, Les Rosbifs,

Josh is serving six different elements

to showcase the meat,

and the evolution of its cooking

over the Queen's reign.

Ribeye, bone marrow,

veal sweetbreads, oxtail,

ox heart, and a herbal beef tea.

I'm kind of celebrating all the beef farmers we've got across the country

producing this great product

because I believe it's the best beef in the world...

-Yeah.

-..that we produce.

-MATTHEW:

-This dish is absolutely spot on.

It's the whole animal

and nothing but the animal, practically.

I gave Josh's dish a ten.

I also give it a ten.

Did you?

Rare unanimity, I gave it a ten as well.

So we really loved it.

John, you've been a bit miserly on the ten so far today.

In other words, you haven't given one.

Here's your chance!

Trust me, I want to!

CHUCKLING

I'm going to do an ox heart salad char-grilled.

I'm going to do a smoked bone marrow butter.

I'm going to do some sweetbreads glazed in Marmite and maple.

Sounds absolutely amazing.

There was a lot of the animal on that board.

We did suggest that we should share a board between us.

It would certainly make it a more banquet friendly dish.

In a bid to meet the judges' expectations

and hit perfect tens again,

Josh is making a couple of tweaks,

serving a lighter bone marrow butter,

and presenting the dish as a sharing board.

It's a challenge to plate up the many elements of the dish.

Roast garlic and watercress puree is served in a pan,

with oxtail ragout cooked in grapes in a second pan,

with diced celeriac, carrot and celery.

The pans are presented with the new smoked bone marrow butter,

topped with a lighter sourdough crumb,

instead of a slice of toasted sourdough.

All under control, Josh?

If my beef's cooked, then, yeah.

If it's not...

You give a good portion, Josh.

Josh slices his beef ribeye, cooked medium.

Look at that!

It's for two, it's for two.

I think you're going to finish these judges off!

The ox heart is served on the garlic and watercress puree,

with pickled red cabbage

and watercress salad.

Maple-and-Marmite-glazed sweetbreads are served in the final pan.

-Any chips, Josh?

-No chips, but I'll knock some up for you, if you want?

LAUGHTER

That's hospitality, that.

The percolator of beef tea completes the presentation.

OK, let's go.

-Nice.

-That's good, man.

That's jaw-droppingly good.

That was worth waiting all day to get right.

-Well, hopefully I got it right.

-LAUGHTER

Seeds of doubt starting to creep in now, though.

Wowzer.

Another chef who listens.

We told him to put it as a sharing dish, and he has.

It looks magnificent.

I think there's a good deal of fun about this dish.

-OK, yeah.

-I think you've got it, Oliver, you have to hold the collar.

Oh!

Nice, light, fragrant.

Nice and thyme-y, isn't it?

I find the oxtail a little bit rich.

Almost greasy.

The pickled cabbage just breaks up the oxtail, doesn't it?

-Yeah.

-The acidity of it just cuts everything.

Do you like the Marmite sweetbread?

Yeah, I do.

Every single mouthful I've had has been delicious.

The salad of the heart is absolutely lovely.

The bone marrow butter is just insane.

You smear that all over the steak, it's ridiculous.

The butter is just outstanding.

It's so light. It's been creamed, hasn't it?

We have had other dishes today which have been really, really good.

But, actually, probably the most enjoyable thing is that.

I gave it a ten last time.

I've been even more excited by it this time.

So I'm going to stick to a ten.

That is, yes, undoubtedly a ten.

It's a ten from me.

I'd probably give it an eight.

Eight?!

-It's a ten all day long.

-It's got to be a ten from me as well.

I love it.

I love Josh's cooking and...

I'm going to give it a nine.

I think it lacks

that last sophisticated element of presentation and, for that,

it's a nine.

Mean beasts is what I think you are.

LAUGHTER

It's been an absolutely fascinating day.

We've had some old favourites and some new dishes.

We've had some dishes which have been absolutely brilliantly cooked,

and some which we know

have not been cooked as well as they should be.

What a day today has been.

Amazing cooking. The standard up again from yesterday.

Impressive.

I've got four dishes that I would be so happy to see at the banquet.

I've got two, possibly three,

which could easily go on a shortlist.

I've given out two tens today.

I think everybody is going to be in the shortlist today.

I can't see what dishes can not make it.

I do have one dish that I really favoured,

and I think could well win.

-What is it?!

-LAUGHTER

Before the final leaderboard is revealed,

it's time to find out who is on the chefs' shortlist.

Thank you very much indeed.

Well...

In third place...

..Danny Gill. Well done.

-Thank you, lads.

-Well done, mate.

-Oh, what a surprise(!)

-They love Danny Gill.

-Well deserved.

-Thanks again.

It was a lovely dish, however, it wasn't cooked.

I think they must have had a better-cooked version than we did.

They must have had a COOKED version.

-Mark Froydenlund.

-Thank you.

-Well done, Mark.

-Thank you.

I think it's the right result.

That's amazing, guys. Thanks so much.

-It's a real honour to be on the... First time this week.

-Well deserved.

It was a great dish.

And Josh Eggleton.

-Well done, man.

-Thank you.

CHUCKLING

-Oh, excellent.

-Hurrah! Josh, up there!

First time for me on the shortlist.

It means a lot. Thanks very much.

Ah, they're not so wayward, these chefs.

That's pretty good. I'm pretty happy with that.

Is the one you wanted on the chefs' list?

It most certainly is.

Better go and add those up to our scores,

and find out what the final placings are.

Right, chefs, what's it been like in the kitchen today?

Calm, order and cheerfulness?

-LAUGHTER

-Something like that.

Far from that but...

We had some absolutely fabulous dishes,

and some which possibly weren't quite so good.

I'm sure what you really want to know is how you've all fared.

ALL: Yes!

-Please!

-There will be two of you sharing the last place, I'm afraid.

And they are...

..Adam and...

..Michael.

Adam, we talked long and hard about it

but in the end we decided it really just simply wasn't

a banquet dish, I'm afraid.

And, Michael, there were some very fine things about your dish.

The risotto, well, to be honest with you,

the less said about that, the better.

-Fair enough.

-Thank you very much indeed.

-Thank you.

-Good luck.

THEY CHUCKLE

-Well...I reworked the dish, it was always going to be a risk.

-Yeah.

So, next, it's...

..Phil.

I loved the way your dish honoured the great Indian tradition

in this country but, again,

I don't think it was quite special enough for the banquet.

After seeing the rest of the food that went out of the kitchen today,

it's not really surprising.

-Still disappointing.

-You sound very philosophical.

Thank you.

-All right, guys.

-CHUCKLING

How's it going? Bad luck.

Not into yours either?

No. No.

Oh, well. Can't win them all.

And now for fifth place.

And that is...

..Danny.

In style and in concept, it was utterly beautiful.

But the venison that we were faced with

was very seriously undercooked.

I'm afraid mine was raw, Danny.

-OK.

-Your fellow chefs marked it very highly and quite rightly, too.

But I strongly suspect that they'd had the benefit

-of several extra minutes' resting.

-Yeah.

-OK.

-Thank you very much.

Cheers.

Get out of town! No way!

-They said the venison was under.

-Really?!

-Yeah.

And it gets harder and harder.

In fourth place...

..Mark Abbott.

Great elegance.

But your favourite vegetable, the spud.

I'm afraid it just rather let the side down.

OK.

Well, thank you very much for the feedback.

There's only three of them left in the chamber, so it might be

another three-man shortlist, like yesterday.

Two fabulous beef dishes,

and one absolutely outstanding veal dish.

Every single one of them, in my opinion,

-could go through to the banquet.

-ALL: Yeah.

And we've decided that...

..there should be a shortlist.

And the shortlist consists of...

..Tommy...

..and...

..Mark...

..and Josh.

LAUGHTER

-That was mean!

-That was just cruel!

I was going then. I was like, "See you later."

LAUGHTER

-Relieved men, all?

-Yeah.

-For now, yeah.

-I just... Oh, I could barely stand here, then.

Tommy, I adored your beef dish.

I particularly enjoyed your lovage mayonnaise.

-It was really lovely.

-I scored these two both tens,

and I thought if there's any chance of me getting on the shortlist

it would be with these two as well.

But thank you very much.

Josh, your dish was an absolute delight.

That smoked bone marrow cream was a revelation.

-I'm a little bit speechless.

-LAUGHTER

-It was wonderful.

-So glad to...

Yeah, made it to the shortlist. It's fantastic.

Mark, your veal dish was absolutely delicious.

The thing that made the dish for me was the raw chestnut.

It brought an extra dimension to the dish.

Really great. Well done.

It's amazing. Really happy to be on the shortlist at last.

Substantially better than yesterday.

-Exactly!

-LAUGHTER

Well done, the three of you.

It's been an absolutely wonderful day for us.

Congratulations, and see you all tomorrow.

CHEFS: Thank you very much.

JUDGES: Well done. CHEFS: Thank you.

So, guys, what's going on?

It was pretty mean in there. They kept us hanging.

But there's a shortlist and I'm on it.

-Congratulations.

-Thanks.

And I'm on it.

And I'm on it as well!

Based on the feedback I got in the regions,

I really wanted to get the main course on the shortlist.

So I'm over the moon. They had a nice little joke on me there.

I thought I was done.

-Did you cry?

-He went white.

LAUGHTER

It's amazing to be on the shortlist. I've wanted to be here all week.

I was so close with the starter.

Really bad result yesterday.

I think all of the dishes on the shortlist are amazing.

There's no reason why mine shouldn't be the one to go all the way.

I gave you all three tens and it was just phenomenal cookery, lads.

-Well done.

-This is my first time in the competition,

I've two dishes on the shortlist. I really want to go all the way.

Two dishes on the banquet, one dish on the banquet, I don't care.

But I'm definitely going to the banquet.