Finals Dessert Great British Menu

It's the national finals of Great British Menu.

It's going to be tough.

After eight weeks of regional heats,

it's the last day of the competition.

I came here to get to the banquet.

The competitive chefs have been battling it out...

Whoo!

Shake it.

..fighting for a chance to cook at a special banquet

at the Palace of Westminster,

marking the year of the Queen's 90th birthday

and celebrating those Great Britons honoured by her.

Wow. Palace of Westminster - that's unbelievable.

Gobsmacked. Doesn't get any bigger than that.

This week, there have been stunning highs...

-Beautiful.

-Congratulations.

..and crushing lows...

He's turned a car crash into a shipwreck.

..with the judges expecting the very best of modern cooking.

I'm eating it and I'm not enjoying it.

Yesterday's main course saw Tommy Banks impress again...

I think it's perfection.

..with Mark Froydenlund...

-Substantially better than yesterday.

-Yeah!

..and Josh Eggleton making their first shortlists of the week.

But Danny Gill failed once again to win over the judges.

The venison was very seriously undercooked.

I'm afraid that mine was raw, Danny.

Today's dessert course is the last chance to make the shortlist...

You love making work for yourself, don't you?

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

Today's the game day, mate, yeah?

..before the judges decide which dishes

will make it onto the banquet menu.

-What about that?

-Yes.

We have got a great menu.

Job done.

Only faultless contemporary cooking...

Wow, what's that?

It's a fantastic plate of food.

-Has it got you worried?

-Yeah, I think it has a bit, actually.

..will be enough.

-Ahh, you

-BLEEP!

First to arrive are the south-west's Josh Eggleton,

Mark Froydenlund from London and the south-east...

..and the north-east's Tommy Banks.

All three made the main course shortlist.

-Well done for yesterday, guys.

-Cheers.

-Well done to you.

-Well done, Josh.

That was a great day yesterday.

I was so pleased to get on that list, at last.

Still need to absolutely nail it today, for sure.

Seeking exceptional desserts are judges Prue Leith,

Oliver Peyton and Matthew Fort.

This is the last chance for those who haven't shone yet to shine,

and for the rest of them to get in a second dish.

They're cooking so well,

I would be surprised if we don't get eight really good puddings.

Next to arrive, and on the fish course shortlist,

are Phil Carmichael for Wales, and Scotland's Michael Bremner,

with Northern Ireland's Mark Abbott,

who has already been chosen to cook the starter at the banquet.

-Good morning.

-Morning, gents.

-Morning.

-Excited for the dessert course?

-You know, I can't wait.

The standard of food was amazing yesterday.

I'm really looking forward to today.

I just feel really confident about the puddings. I really do.

Because, in the heats, they were so amazing.

Last into the kitchen are central region's Danny Gill...

-Morning, guys.

-Morning.

..and the north-west's Adam Reid,

the only two chefs yet to make a shortlist.

Today, this is where my real skills in pastry will come to the fore.

Hopefully I'm going to smash it.

Your strongest dish, is it, Adam?

Yeah, thankfully, because it's been a bit of a poor week so far for me.

This week's been a roller-coaster.

I've just got to carry on doing what I do,

cook to the best of my ability

and hopefully it's enough to get me on the shortlist.

New dessert, so raring to go.

-Totally new dish?

-Totally new dish.

-Confident, then?

-Yeah.

Helping the judges choose a dessert

fitting for the Queen's Great Britons

is prominent restaurant critic, author and broadcaster Grace Dent,

who has a passion for British food.

Welcome back, Grace.

Thank you for having me again.

Are you ready for a little sugar?

I'm ready for a lot of sugar.

Grace helped crown Josh Eggleton the south-west champion.

As a restaurant reviewer, how often do you actually eat out?

Three or four times a week.

-I thought you'd say three or four times a day!

-No...

-Slacker!

Because I try to be good.

It's the greatest job in the world.

You have to guard it ferociously.

When you see young whippersnappers come towards you,

you have to bat them off.

I know exactly how you feel when I look at you, thank you very much!

Well, today, just eight puddings!

We do have high hopes.

I think I'm looking for a proper pudding, though,

because what frustrates me sometimes is when they come out

and they're fragments of bits and pieces.

I promise you, in this competition, the puddings have been amazing.

The first group of chefs to cook are Phil Carmichael,

Mark Abbott and Adam Reid.

-Good luck, guys.

-Last one.

-Last one.

-All the best, boys, yeah?

Cheers. Let's go.

I think today you can really sense a very different tone in the kitchen.

Last day, last push.

-Everybody wants that dish in the banquet.

-Yeah, exactly.

Obviously it's a big one for me. Not got anywhere so far.

I've had a great week, good fun,

but today's the game day, mate, yeah?

This is my actually strongest dish,

I just hope it still has the wow factor to be able to see me through.

Did you get four 10s for this, Adam?

-Certainly did.

-That's high scores.

So obviously you have to live back up to that expectation.

Adam is first to go before the judges today.

Well, Grace, Adam Reid.

He is a head chef for Simon Rogan,

so he's obviously a very talented chef.

For some reason, although his dishes have been really interesting,

he just hasn't made it onto the shortlist so far.

However, today could be his day,

because his pudding was absolutely outstanding.

It looked fantastic, it had that surprise element, it was light,

but you could gobble the whole thing up.

-And we did!

-Oh, it was wonderful.

-OK.

Adam's hopes rest on a challenging dish requiring skill and delicacy.

He's heated three types of sugar with water,

citric acid and gold powder, to make a sugar fondant,

which he's now inflating with a pump.

-Wow, what's that?

-It's going to be my apple, to fill.

So you're going to put your dessert in there?

-Yeah.

-That's pretty impressive.

Golden Empire celebrates the Commonwealth.

Using Empire apples in a modern crumble,

served inside a golden sugar-blown apple,

which sits in a frozen apple granita.

You don't want them too thick cos you won't be able to eat it,

but, if it's too thin, they'll dissolve and shatter everywhere.

-You've got to get that balance right.

-Yeah.

This pudding was one of those rare treats that ate as well as it looked

and it looked utterly ravishing.

There is a lot of apple in it but also some hazelnut crumble and some

-very sweet custard.

-You had me on crumble.

-HE LAUGHS

-What a sell!

Blowing sugar is a tricky process.

If you get this at the banquet,

you will have to spend pretty much all day blowing up apples.

It's not as though I'm going to have other dishes there, is it?!

Yeah, it's got to be better to do than pommes souffle for a starter.

Well, let's face it...

Don't you worry about the pommes souffle, boys, they'll be there.

The apples are extremely fragile.

-Ahhh, you

-BLEEP!

The bloke's blowing sugar.

That's a skill. It's phenomenal!

He has the confidence in himself to blow sugar in this competition.

Hats off.

Before Adam plates up, he must make his apple snow,

using liquid nitrogen.

Fresh green apple juice?

Yeah, sweetened with a little bit of...sugar.

-You just keep spraying it into the liquid nitrogen?

-Yeah.

To complete the dish, Adam begins filling his sugar-blown apples,

with whipped custard flavoured with meadowsweet,

a herb from the rose family.

Then apple compote.

Oh, wow.

-That's impressive, innit?

-That is impressive!

He finishes the filling with a hazelnut crumble.

So it literally is an apple crumble and custard.

An apple crumble in an apple.

The golden apples are served with the apple granita snow, to finish.

That looks stunning.

Marathon effort, that. Well done.

-Cheers, boys.

-Well done, chief.

Glad I'm first. I can go and have a big fat cigar now!

THEY LAUGH

SHE GASPS

It's absolutely beautiful, isn't it?

It's probably the most visually stunning dish I've seen all week.

-I agree.

-Absolutely fantastic.

Look at that. Who could make sugar that thin?!

Beautiful.

Mmmm! Love the cleanness of the apple snow.

As it melts in your mouth, it releases all those sort of

acidic appley notes. It's beautiful.

Custard, then you cut down into the hazelnut crumble at the bottom -

-some great flavour there.

-Yeah. Really good.

I've never seen anything like this before.

To pull it off to this level...

I'm quite... I'm quite astounded.

My only concern is doing that for a banquet. That's a lot of work there.

-But flavour-wise... Can't fault that dish.

-No.

I actually think this is probably

one of the best puddings I've ever eaten.

It just ticks every box.

I'd be absolutely gobsmacked if that isn't on the shortlist.

-Does it make you nervous?

-Oh, massively, yeah.

The chefs must score each other's dishes.

It's a 10 from me.

The average of their scores will be added to the judges'

to help determine the final leaderboard.

-10, all day long.

-Yeah, that's a full house of 10s then.

I'm going to give this 10 as well.

Fantastic bit of cooking.

I can't fault anything in this dish, so I give it a 10.

I have to give it a 10.

This is not just a Golden Empire, it's a gold medal.

It's just another 10, really, isn't it?

Next up is Mark Abbott.

He went straight through to win the first course.

So he's already cooking at this banquet.

He is nothing if not a competitor.

Mark's fairy dessert scored highly in the heats.

And, like Adam's dish, it involves complex sugar work,

this time to create a union flag.

So I've made a sugar mix, ground it down, coloured it into the colours,

and I've got three templates... Look at that.

Using the templates, Mark sprinkles the sugar,

then sets by baking in the oven.

He will repeat the process with each coloured sugar

to build up the flag pattern.

You love making work for yourself, don't you?

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

Time to Reflect is inspired by Mark's working life,

spent all over the UK.

He's combining different techniques he's learned into one celebratory

patriotic dessert.

Like Mark's other courses, it's a complex dish,

with mixed berry and yoghurt elements

served under the flag tuile.

So how many of these is it per portion?

-Just one?

-Just one, mate.

When it comes to something as accurate as this,

you need to have extras.

If you get this dish through to the banquet,

you'll be doing 120 pommes souffles to start,

and you'll need to do about, my guess, 120 of these, as well.

Indeed, yeah. If I get it to there.

If I have to bring my own sleeping bag

and sleep on the kitchen floor to get it there, I'll be there.

We gave him four 9s for this dish. He will not be happy with that.

I like him already.

For me, there were just too many elements

and I didn't think they all went together perfectly.

To ensure there aren't too many flavours competing on the plate,

Mark's made some alterations.

He's changed the jelly from English sparkling wine and honey

to strawberry.

He then adds dehydrated sponge,

soaked in blackberry pickling liquor,

pickled blackberries,

and strawberries compressed in English sparkling wine.

People that we'll be cooking for at the banquet are the ones who have

given so much for Britain.

And I want to represent that, so it's served in a thank you box.

Next is a smaller serving of blueberry compote,

then a chocolate and blackberry marquise.

New yoghurt crispies add texture.

That looks awesome. What are you thanking the judges for?

Putting you through on the starter?

Mark tops with yoghurt sorbet.

How has the sugar work turned out, Mark?

-Yeah, I'm really happy with it.

-I wouldn't even consider it.

Doing that for a banquet - it's suicide!

-You got it in?

-Yeah.

How many chefs does it take to close a box?

Thank you.

OK, ladies, present it, obviously,

so that they can read the 'thank you' like that.

Thank you very much.

-Well done, chief.

-Thank you very much.

Well done, mate. Looks really nice.

-Well done, Mark.

-Really nice.

-Thank you.

-Intriguing.

-Very.

It's a shoebox.

-Oh!

-Isn't that beautiful?

It's so proudly and uncompromisingly British.

And I love it.

Well, it's hitting the brief already, just by the visuals...

Speaks for itself, doesn't it?

Look how thin that sugar work is. It's just beautiful.

The sponge has just got that real kick of a trifle

that I would have had as a child and I love that.

I like the sponge, I like the berries, I love the jelly.

The strawberry jelly - there's absolutely

hardly any flavour at all.

That jelly is really tasty.

You can really get the strawberry taste in it.

I think the chocolate marquise is really quite plain.

It just muddies the flavours.

I don't dislike the chocolate mousse. I'm just not sure if it needs to be in there.

I'm beginning to wonder why I gave it 9.

I think there's not one single thing on this pudding

that's as good as it was before.

This is definitely shortlist-able.

I think that guests at a banquet would definitely remember it.

However, this isn't blowing me away.

Nothing's at fault here, so it's a 10 for me.

Strong 9 for me.

I still think it would be a wonderful thing to see at a banquet.

But the actual cooking isn't good enough.

I'm going to give it an 8.

I'll give it a 7.

I'm going to score it a 9. I mean, the dish itself looks brilliant.

Already on a shortlist are London and the south-east's Mark Froydenlund

and Scotland's Michael Bremner.

And they are daring to think about getting through.

It could actually be us cooking at the Palace of Westminster.

The thought of getting through to the banquet is unbelievable.

-Every time you're one step further, you just want it even more.

-Yeah.

London and the south-east have been there six years in a row,

-so I don't want to let the side down, either.

-Yeah, right.

Last to cook in this group is Phil Carmichael.

He has had a mixed week.

His scores for two courses left him mid-table

but he is on the fish shortlist.

His dessert, Cup of Tea for Ma'am,

is a panna cotta flavoured with Earl Grey tea,

reportedly a favourite of the Queen.

It's topped with charred orange and served with shortbread sugar cubes.

It was Phil's most visually imaginative dish

and his highest scoring.

Haven't really made any sort of... much changes to it,

so hopefully they'll still be impressed.

Phil Carmichael... Rather unassuming in manner,

but an absolutely wonderful chef.

Well, I loved his last pudding.

It's a very British dish.

Not only does it have the Earl Grey tea cream

but there is a very nice shortbread.

I mean, really seriously short shortbread too.

Earl Grey is my tea of choice.

But often it doesn't quite come across

when people try to do things with it.

Sometimes tea should just be tea.

Let's see what he's going to do with it.

I had to give it a 10

because each individual part was perfectly prepared.

I mean, I'm actually intrigued as to how he's going to pull this off.

Phil has set his Earl Grey panna cottas in vintage teacups.

-So, Phil, are you happy with the set on your panna cotta?

-Yeah.

He tops with orange gel.

And charred orange pieces.

-Do you fancy a cup of tea?

-I do!

Phil's only change to the dish is a new edition of frozen orange cells.

Orange powder garnishes.

Cocoa nib shortbread sugar cubes are dusted in cinnamon sugar...

..and served in silver sugar bowls.

Well, I'm loving the wobble, Phil.

Yeah? Good. Means it's not too soft.

There's the sugar tongs as well.

-Thank you. Thank you.

-Well done, Phil.

Beautiful dish, yet again.

-Finished on a high there.

-Thank you.

-Looks great.

Fingers crossed they'll still love it today.

This is one of those puddings you're desperate to stick

your teaspoon into. It's got this intrigue about it.

Last time, my orange was more charred,

and it looked a bit more attractive.

I love the idea. A Great British cup of tea

-at the end of the Great British banquet.

-Nice and simple.

I could eat this shortbread

until there was no shortbread left to be eaten!

I think it's absolutely delicious.

The shortbread is absolutely fantastic.

One lump or two? Actually, one lump, or five or six, in this case!

One of the nicest bits of shortbread I've ever tried.

But, for me, there's not enough wow factor.

I think the flavour that he's got in the tea, it's brilliant.

It's got the bergamot. Blends in well with the orange.

-It's delicious.

-Match made in heaven.

You know, you have to get the bergamot exactly right.

-Here, it's too little.

-I think it's a very elegant and understated dish.

Compared to the puddings we've seen so far,

it hasn't got the whizz and the bang.

This is for the more refined, discerning banquet-goer.

Oh! I like to think of myself among them.

There's not enough wow element on it, so I'm going to give it a 7.

It doesn't have the razzmatazz of a banquet. An 8.

It's not my favourite dish of the day so far.

So I'm going to give it a 9.

To be honest, I'm just not sure it delivers in the eating.

I think I'm going to give it an 8.

It reveals more all the time.

It's a 9 for me.

Look at it. It's beautiful.

The second group into the kitchen are Mark Froydenlund

and Josh Eggleton.

-Best of luck.

-Good luck.

We've seen three pretty strong dishes this morning.

Yeah, really nice.

-Erm, has it got you worried?

-Yeah, I think it has a bit, actually.

Can I just say, nothing that's happened this morning

has dispelled my view that puddings are my favourite course.

I'm not surprised.

I mean, we've just had three brilliant puddings.

These are very, very considered, beautiful

and, you know, outstanding puddings.

I think this is going to be one of those days when we're going to be

so happy there's a really bad pudding or two there,

which we WON'T have to finish!

First to cook is Mark Froydenlund.

Apart from a poorly-received fish course,

Mark has cooked well all week.

His starter just lost out to Mark Abbott

and his main course made the banquet shortlist.

Today's dessert is inspired by the Commonwealth.

I was looking at countries that I could focus on

and then I was reading about the Caribbean and in particular Grenada.

-Right.

-And they've got some amazing ingredients there,

which we can use and we do use a lot in our cooking in Britain.

Lots of rum, lots of spices.

-Yeah.

-Tropical fruits.

-What does that equal?

It equals, hopefully, a 10.

Pineapple and coconut

make up the main elements of Mark's Island Of Spice,

with a ginger sponge

and a pineapple, finger lime and rum syrup.

It received mixed reviews from the judges in the regional heats.

Grace, Mark Froydenlund is Marcus Wareing's head chef.

-OK.

-And he's had a pretty good final so far.

His pudding, however,

wasn't as good as a chef of his quality should produce, in my view.

It wasn't particularly exciting to look at.

It was, for me, a little bit bitty.

Again, a bit of tweakage here could turn it into a 10.

I think it needs a bit more than just mere tweakage.

I just need to improve the sponge a little bit.

Erm, just got to be careful with the sweetness of this dish as well -

pineapple, very sweet.

So, yeah, it's quite a difficult one to get right, actually.

Yeah.

First on to his new Grenada island-shaped plates

is pineapple sorbet.

-How's it going, Mark?

-Good.

-I'm glad you're here.

-Yeah?

Confit pineapple is next,

with aerated coconut panna cotta,

ginger sponge...

..and coconut meringues, with a sprinkle of pineapple powder.

The thing for me was to make sure the Commonwealth

was represented at the banquet,

because I think it's a really important part of our food history.

I think that's what's really nice about Great Britain, isn't it?

That we take on other cultures.

-Yeah.

-And kind of embed them into our own.

Mark finishes the dish with lime zest,

pineapple, finger lime and rum syrup, and edible flowers.

-OK, guys.

-Yeah.

Brilliant.

-Very nice. Looks good, that, mate.

-Cheers. Thank you.

-Well done.

-Oh, wow.

-That looks nice.

-That does look good.

-Pleased?

-Yeah. Relieved, anyway. Yeah.

End of a hard week.

I think you can feel everybody's relief.

As each dish goes out the door,

the tension in the kitchen goes down a little bit.

Yeah, the tension follows the dishes.

Thank you very much. I think it's a little prettier than it was before.

Well, it's more interesting because of the plate.

I think that pretty much looks like

the tropics on a plate.

-Yeah.

-Yeah, it looks lovely.

I really like the flavour of the sorbet,

because I think that pineapple and that little bit of citrus

from the lime is really sparky.

Pineapple sorbet is absolutely delicious.

Really fresh flavour.

I am a little bit concerned about

the sort of higgledy-piggledy nature of it, though.

The arrangement doesn't look amazing.

The aerated panna cotta is just phenomenal.

It's beautiful.

One of the joys of panna cotta is the texture.

"Why aerate it?" is the question.

It's actually quite a sweet pudding as well, isn't it?

It's very, very sweet.

I think that the meringues tip over the sugar content just too much.

There's not a lot of joy in it, either, is there?

You think it's going to be fun but the reality is it's not fun.

-There's not a single element on here...

-No.

-..that's wrong.

There's nothing on this plate that's completely knocking my socks off.

I'm not enjoying this as much as I did last time, and it's a 6.

It's up there with the best desserts we've had today.

It's just not working, so I'm going to give it a 7.

I haven't got a bad thing to say about it

so I'm going to give him a 10.

It's a delicious plate of food

but I'm not sure if I can see it at the banquet.

This is a 7.

It's just not devourable.

Next is Josh Eggleton.

He's hoping to make his second shortlist of the week

and impress as much as he did with his main course.

Well, Grace, you remember Josh because you judged him in the heats.

Yeah, I absolutely remember him. I love his story.

This is the man who comes back and back and back, isn't it?

How many times is this that...

-Third.

-Yeah.

He's like a terrier. You can't knock him down.

-But that's great, isn't it?

-I love that completely.

This beetroot ice cream dish, for me, I loved it.

The whole spectacle is just something

that I just fell in love with.

-I gave it a 9.

-So did I.

Josh's striking dish is a serve-yourself

beetroot and white chocolate ice cream.

The inspiration is the revival of the British high street

and growth of independent producers,

served on a model high street with market stalls holding the ice cream

garnishes which include carrot cake, carrot tuiles and beetroot syrup.

Guys, can you give us a hand, please?

I'll give you a hand.

That's a big machine.

Fun, humour, you know, a sense of theatre.

I think all those things came across.

-Do you need a licence for that?

-Where are we going with it, Josh?

Yeah, you need a licence to drive it, yeah.

-Just here.

-Just here?

-Perfect. Thanks, mate.

Who doesn't want to see five or six ice cream machines

plonked in the middle of the Palace of Westminster?

I think it's a great idea at the end of a banquet.

So the judges are going to be serving their own?

It's a bit of fun, you know? We're going to make them get off their chairs.

-What flavour is it, Josh?

-This is beetroot and white chocolate.

I quite like a lot of vegetables in desserts, you know?

I'm really looking forward to tasting this dessert.

It's an interesting combination, white chocolate and beetroot.

Maybe we should be worried.

From what I see of it, it's going to be quite interactive.

-I quite like that sort of stuff.

-If he nails it, it's the best cone,

the best ice cream you've ever eaten, it could be a banquet dish.

-Yeah.

-I think we're drawing the short straw going last today.

It really ups the pressure, doesn't it?

The hazelnut cones smell amazing, Josh.

Josh's cone maker has attracted the attention of his fellow chefs.

-So I've got another one.

-That's why it spins.

-There's two in there. Ohh!

-What's this?

Oh, look at that. That's clever.

Oh, that is clever.

It's genius.

Into the bottom of the cooled cones, Josh pipes dark chocolate

which will set firm, and lemon thyme puree.

He serves the cones on the ice cream cart,

and gets the other chefs to help with his props.

That looks phenomenal.

Class. It looks like a giant Scalextric track.

-Yeah!

-Oh, my God.

-He's a nutter.

-He's absolutely off his head.

I'm celebrating those Great Britons

that are bringing the high street back.

Josh assembles his market stalls with his garnishes.

Beetroot syrup,

carrot cake,

carrot tuiles

and frozen raspberry pieces.

OK.

And then the carrots there.

-Easy.

-Off you go.

Mate, that was genius.

That's the first time I've ever seen a high street on a...

-Well done.

-Simple? Simple, simple.

-That looks beautiful.

Now, that is a beautiful sight.

That was a wow factor, wasn't it?

I think this is a game changer.

You reckon?

Stand by for blast-off!

He's certainly going to turn a few heads with that one.

I think it's a lot of fun.

You could see everybody having a bit of a laugh.

You know, back to their childhood almost, isn't it?

-Mm.

-I'm enjoying this even more...

Than last time.

-..than last time.

-I think it feels more elegantly beetrooty, actually.

I love the raspberries and the beetroot together.

I think it's more unctuous, I think it's more luxurious,

it's a bit more creamy.

-Do you reckon it's sweet enough?

-Yeah.

-I do, yeah.

I love that lemon and thyme section at the bottom.

I didn't even notice it last time, really, but this time, yes.

Has this improved all the way round, do you think?

-Yes.

-Yeah.

I just don't think on the cooking and gastronomy level

it cuts the mustard.

A little bit on the big side, but...

-Yeah.

-That's not going to take away from the enjoyment of it.

It would be quite difficult to eat this sat in your...

In your Sunday best?

-..in your Sunday best.

-Yeah.

As it got towards the end, it got a bit sickly.

I'm going to have to go for an 8.

I'm going to give it a 9.

For the creativity and showmanship,

I'm going to give it 9.

I'm going to go for a 9.

I think it's terrific fun

and I'm going to give it an 8.

Central champion Danny Gill,

the north-east's Tommy Banks

and Michael Bremner from Scotland

are the final three into the kitchen.

-All the best. Nice one.

-Good luck, buddy.

-Best of luck, mate.

-Last one. All the best.

Five down, three to go.

There's too many dishes that could be at the banquet,

to be really honest with you.

I'm absolutely dying to give another 10.

It feels so good to give a 10!

And then I tailed off and I've been critical.

I've got a 10 in me.

First is Danny Gill.

He's a former head chef

at GBM veteran Daniel Clifford's two Michelin-starred restaurant,

so he's used to the pressures of a top-class kitchen,

but he's had a tough week.

Although all his dishes have made the chefs' shortlists,

he's failed to impress the judges.

You know, I really want to get on that shortlist today.

I hope you do because I've enjoyed your food all week.

-Thank you, Tom.

-I've scored it high all week.

You know, I came here to get to the banquet.

Obviously I can take heed in

you guys appreciating it, even if the judges haven't.

-A moral victory!

-Is there such a thing?

So, Grace, next up is Danny Gill.

His food's been delicious so far,

but he didn't do anything to excite us.

So, against the competition that he's got around today,

that's just not good enough.

See, I'm not sure what you're doing to these chefs,

because he's clearly falling to pieces

every time he's faced with your three faces.

So, well, I'm rooting for him.

We didn't like his pudding the first time round,

but he's come back with a completely new dish.

He's called it a Great British Treasure,

and it sounds to me like a great British Treasure Chest

of jolly nice things.

Danny's original dessert scored as low as a 4 in the heats.

He's sticking with raspberry and Earl Grey flavours,

but presenting them differently.

It's his take on a trifle, served with bite-sized Victoria sponges.

My inspiration is a take on traditional British puddings,

and trying to elevate them from the ordinary

to be something truly exceptional.

I just find Earl Grey works really well with raspberry.

Oh, yeah, nice. Second Earl Grey dish of the day, as well.

Got something to measure it against.

I feel bad for Danny. He's put his heart into some of those dishes,

especially his main course,

and it's just not worked out for him so far.

I want to see a great dessert from him, and just, you know,

I want the judges to really appreciate it.

Yeah, I feel for Danny.

I am in the same position today.

It'd be great to see him on the shortlist for the dessert.

He certainly deserves it, in my opinion anyway.

Determined not to go home without making a shortlist,

Danny's serving a complex dessert.

Raspberry posset and fresh raspberries

make up the first layers of his trifle.

Then, Danny fills Earl Grey sponge

with white chocolate and raspberry mousse and raspberry gel -

his take on a Victoria sandwich -

finished with icing sugar and tempered white chocolate.

Danny adds frozen raspberry pieces

and raspberry laces to a regal treasure chest,

then grates over white chocolate.

Is it coming up the way you wanted?

-Yeah, it's looking good.

-Good.

Nerve-racking, isn't it? Neither of us have been on the shortlist.

To complete the trifle, Danny adds more Earl Grey sponge,

raspberry and Earl Grey sorbet...

..and Earl Grey and white chocolate espuma.

This is what I call...

a pudding.

The dishes are topped with a tempered white chocolate disc,

and freeze-dried raspberries.

Hot raspberry compote is served in mini saucepans.

-OK.

-Yeah.

Come on, you.

Well, it's been a pleasure, I'll see you all later!

-Well done.

-Nice one, mate. Phenomenal effort, that.

-Cheers.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

Danny's throwing the kitchen sink at this.

-He is.

-There we go.

Timber!

I think he's pulled it out of the bag.

Oh, yeah. And what an amount of work he had to do there, as well.

This is absolutely delicious,

but the raspberry is so overpowering you don't get the Earl Grey.

I think I'm really missing that Earl Grey tea flavour.

If that was more prominent,

it would really cut through that richness in the raspberries.

It's almost like a trifle, though,

I don't think you can really get each element at a time.

There's so much happening here, though.

I'm consumed by it.

He does seem to have borrowed elements

from almost every pudding we've had today,

and put them together in the cup.

All the flavours sort of become muddled.

I can't taste what's in the sponge.

The cake is more bread than cake.

So it's very odd.

I like the idea behind this, it's very clever.

Individually, there's lots of nice ideas,

but when you combine them all together, they're too much.

There's only one mark, and that's a 10.

A bit too much?

Yeah, you'd be flagging a little bit by the end of it.

-I'm going to give it a 7.

-I'm going to give this dish a 6.

This would not do at the banquet.

It's not gastronomic enough,

and it's not worthy of our Great Britons.

I give it an 8.

When you're confronted by an unmitigated disaster,

the only thing to do is enjoy it.

Next is Michael Bremner.

He's on the fish shortlist, but his starter was second from last,

and his main course joint bottom.

Like the rest of his menu,

Michael's dessert is based on an award-winning Great Briton,

the late Maitland Mackie CBE, a famous Scottish ice cream maker.

This is a picture of him here.

Oh, yeah? Wow, that's a great photo.

So did you grow up eating his ice cream, then?

Yeah, that's one of my first memories.

-So that's a nostalgic sort of flavour for you?

-Yeah.

In the heats, Michael served a grown-up take

on his favourite childhood desserts,

but the judges felt there were too many elements,

and none was executed well enough.

Michael Bremner, the Scottish champion, tall as a caber.

He's had a bit of an up-and-down week, to be honest,

and his pudding, well, I didn't like it much at all.

For me, he's going to have to do

quite a lot more to make it work, really.

Given the level of competition,

he's going to have to ratchet this one up quite a few points.

I could have done a lot better,

but you learn all these things

when you stand in this kitchen, don't you?

Michael's simplified the dish

to focus on Maitland Mackie's favourite flavours -

whiskey and ginger ice cream with salted caramel mousse,

chocolate and meringue wafer and honeycomb.

I am really excited to taste this one.

I just love Scotland in general, so I am happy.

Great chefs can make small changes

and turn disasters into triumphs, so who knows?

Michael's refined dessert is served in new ice bowls.

First is the salted caramel mousse.

Next, the whiskey and ginger ice cream,

based on a Whiskey Mac cocktail.

They look absolutely amazing.

-Thank you.

-Have you made them yourself?

Yeah.

-Ice sculptor Michael!

-THEY LAUGH

Honeycomb pieces sit on top.

-Is that an ice bowl?

-A bowl made of ice? Wow.

-Ice bowl, yeah.

New Italian meringue and chocolate wafer, sandwiched with ganache,

finishes the dish.

Looks pretty special, that, Michael.

Thank you. So it's that way facing the judges, towards you.

That's great, thank you.

-Brilliant, that.

-Well done, mate.

-Thank you.

-Lovely. Finito, mate.

-Cheers.

-Congratulations.

-Thanks a lot, man. Thank you.

So let's just hope that the judges like it.

-I'm sure they will.

-They'll love it.

I mean, maybe I am the ice queen, but I love this.

It's a much more theatrical presentation, isn't it?

I mean, you know, you sort of sit up and take notice.

It's really unique. Beautiful.

-It's inspired, isn't it?

-Yeah. Definitely.

That whiskey, it's great.

-Wow.

-Yeah, very good ice cream.

This is absolute heaven.

I think it's far more delicate now.

And it's quite hard to make whiskey ice cream delicate.

I just think it needs a bit more whiskey,

-especially from a dessert from Scotland.

-Yeah.

Lovely, crunchy honeycomb.

I love the meringues with the ganache inside.

These are all good things.

Do you think it's banquet-worthy?

For me, today, it's not right up there

with some of the top contenders.

He's put a lot more effort into it since the heats.

This is a much advanced pudding.

It's a good pud, but it's not a great pud.

None left, Danny.

That says it all, doesn't it?

It's a 9 for me.

I'm going to give it a 9.

I'm going down the line of an 8.

I'm going one better. I liked it. I'm going to give it a 9.

There's something very Scottish about this,

and I love it. I'm going to give it a 9.

So, guys, this is the first time we've all been in the final...

How'd you find it? I've been there before, and it hurts.

Yeah, it's been a roller-coaster.

Highs and, like, extreme lows,

so hopefully it will not be another low today.

I never, ever thought it was going to be as hard as this.

When I saw your menu, I knew you were going to have a hard week.

Last to complete this week is Michelin-starred Tommy Banks.

Two of his dishes have already been shortlisted.

He's hoping to make his dessert number three.

It's a deeply personal dish.

So, Tommy, what is your dessert?

The inspiration's my grandfather.

He did a lot of work in the community,

and was invited down to a garden party

-at Buckingham Palace, so...

-No way.

-But he didn't want to go.

-He didn't want to go?

-No, he was too humble.

And my grandma was like, "We're going."

And that was that. She'd already bought a hat, I think.

So they had to go.

-There's a picture of him there.

-Oh, wow, that's a great picture.

If I could be anywhere near as good a bloke as him,

I'd be very, very happy.

Well, what can I tell you about Tommy Banks?

Every dish is really sensitively thought out,

he's got a beautiful touch...

He hit it out of the ballpark, this dish as well. Great chef.

But one of the things he was heavily involved in was the White Horse at Kilburn,

which is like a great big landmark, and, when he died,

they built a memorial bench there for him,

in the middle of a massive fir forest.

-Yep.

-So it just seemed fitting for me to make a dessert

out of Douglas fir to honour him.

Tommy's dessert received four 10s in the heats.

It's a Douglas fir parfait.

Lemon verbena curd and gel, and ewe's milk yoghurt sorbet,

served with a Douglas fir sour cocktail.

So the title of the dish is My Great Briton,

because basically he was my hero, he was My Great Briton,

-so...

-Yeah, great title.

-It is. It's a great story.

If I could get a dish to the banquet in honour of him, you know,

it would feel like I'd given him something back

for everything he gave me, you know?

I think one of the sort of smart things about it,

it marries together absolutely classic techniques

with some very unusual flavours.

But they all worked, and we all gave it 10.

-Wow!

-Wow indeed!

I don't think I've ever seen you three looking so happy.

What has this man got?

Tommy, what is that?

This is to signify the fir forest

-from the White Horse.

-That is amazing.

Wow. Check this out.

Wow.

-Nice.

-It should have the...

-Yeah, yeah.

-..the aroma of the forest, as well.

Wow, it looks amazing.

-That's phenomenal.

-Wow, that's a bit special, isn't it?

-It's very special.

-Yeah.

A dot of lemon verbena curd secures his tower of Douglas fir parfait

on a thin white chocolate tuille,

topped with another tuille.

Shake it.

Danny helps Tommy with his Douglas fir sours.

Like Tom Cruise.

Tommy tops the parfaits with lemon verbena curd, and lemon verbena gel,

then finishes with the ewe's milk yoghurt sorbet,

and a sprinkling of fir sherbet.

Thanks, guys.

Yep, thank you.

Well done, mate. That's it. Finished.

Cheers, thank you.

-That was a very classy end.

-Yeah.

A recording of Tommy's grandfather, Fred Banks,

describing North Yorkshire's Kilburn White Horse that he helped maintain,

will play as the dishes are served.

Oh!

'You're on the famous Kilburn White Horse.

'It was designed by Kilburn schoolmaster John Hodgson,

'and cut by the villagers in 1857. Enjoy the view.'

It's obviously a deeply personal story,

and to put that on a plate is pretty brave, isn't it?

Yeah. It's stunning.

Oh, you get the smell of the Douglas fir, don't you?

It just feels like a piece of art to me.

You have to get that balance right when you're using really herbaceous

flavours like this. He's nailed it.

I think it's perfect, absolutely perfect.

All the textures are there, all the crispness of the biscuit,

the correct creaminess of the parfait.

The parfait's lovely, it's got such a nice, smooth consistency.

The lemon verbena gel and curd were delicious as well,

and completely different.

The sorbet really complements it, and the drink is incredible as well.

This is a real treat.

-It's wonderful.

-It is so modern, as well.

It's just got a lot of class to it.

It's just absolutely smashed us all out of the park.

He's done his grandfather proud.

It's absolutely a 10.

Yes, it is absolutely a 10 from me too.

It's a 10, isn't it? What else can it be?

The theatrics, the story, it's got to be a 10.

And it's definitely a 10 for me.

Yep, faultless, 10.

10.

10 all day long.

Yeah, I'm going to go 10, as well.

If every day I ate was as good as today, I will die a very happy man.

It's just fantastic.

I'll be majorly disappointed if I don't make that shortlist.

I'm not even thinking about anything other than

sitting in that judging chamber right to the end today.

We now have such a sort of clutch of good contenders

at the top of the list.

We've scattered 10s and 9s around like confetti.

To do some of the things I've seen today I think is incredible.

I'm not 100% happy with how I've cooked this week.

I know I've had faults,

but that's what the Great British Menu kitchen can do to you.

But don't forget, the chefs have marked as well.

Yes, well, I always get nervous when I think of what the chefs might do!

Thank you.

It's time to reveal how the chefs have scored,

and who they've placed on their shortlist.

Oh, well...

Joint second,

Mark Abbott.

Thanks very much, boys.

-Well done.

-Well done.

-Me.

-Well done, Matt.

-Congratulations.

And Mark Froydenlund.

-Well!

-A bit of aerated panna cotta, you know, and they're anybody's!

Yes, it must be that!

In joint first place, we have...

Adam.

Thanks, guys.

-Adam Reid.

-Yes!

Oh. What a relief.

And Tommy Banks.

Oh, fantastic.

-Oh, well, that's it.

-Well...!

Thank you. Thanks, guys.

I mean, that dish means an awful lot to me, thank you.

It's brilliant, mate.

Hello, chefs. Are you relieved it's all over?

-ALL:

-Yes.

A little bit!

Well, I'm just going to go straight into the final leaderboard.

So, in last place,

it's...

..Mark Froydenlund.

From the heights of the veal dish yesterday,

sadly we didn't like your pudding as much as your fellow chefs did.

Thank you very much.

Next, it's...

..Danny.

You know, we thought your raspberry posset was really beautiful,

but we just didn't think it had enough finesse.

And we really do all appreciate, you know,

how much you put into this competition.

We could feel it in every dish.

-Thank you for having me.

-Thank you.

I can't believe that.

-Yours was amazing.

-Cheers, no, thank you. Well, they didn't think so!

-It goes to show, you never know, do you?

-Yeah.

In sixth place...

..it's...Mark.

Unfortunately it was a feast for the eyes, not for the taste buds.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Chiefs!

Next, it's...

..Phil.

That dish was very, very elegant, Phil,

but unfortunately, this time,

we thought the bergamot was just a bit too subtle,

but we did love the shortbread cubes - they were amazing!

I've enjoyed cooking today, so thank you very much.

Thank you.

All right, boys.

-Cheers.

-Here we are again!

And now we have two chefs tying for third place.

And they are...

..Michael and Josh.

Michael, we loved the presentation,

and it was just really beautifully executed.

Thank you very much. The other two dishes,

Adam's and Tommy's were fantastic.

Josh, your ice cream, we thought that was fantastic.

I mean, what a lot of fun.

Yeah, well, that was the idea,

to kind of keep it simple and just put a smile on everyone's face.

Well, both of you were up against some extremely stiff competition.

And, unfortunately, neither of you have been successful this time.

OK. Thank you very much.

Cheers. Cheers, good luck, lads.

-Good luck.

-Thank you, mate.

Two of you? Joint third.

-Well done.

-Well done, boys.

-Well done.

-Tommy and Adam.

We adored both your dishes.

So we are putting both of you on the shortlist.

Sweat it out for a bit longer.

I don't know if that's a relief or not!

Tommy, your dish was a little work of genius.

I imagine your grandfather would have been

extraordinarily proud of you.

To be still in with a chance of the banquet feels great.

Adam, I think it was a brilliantly conceived dish,

and it was a joy to eat from first mouthful to last,

so, thank you.

Thank you very much. You know, I love that dessert.

Boys, it was absolutely a day to remember.

I... It was bewilderingly brilliant, at times.

Thank you very much.

So congratulations to both of you.

We now have to decide on the final banquet menu.

-We'll see you soon.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you very much.

So, then, guys, what happened? Are you both on the shortlist?

The judges liked both our dishes.

So, yep, you are looking at the shortlist.

Yay! Well done.

-Well done, mate.

-So three shortlists for you.

The judges will now deliberate over the final menu,

and decide which dishes are to be served

alongside Mark Abbott's starter

at the Great Britons Banquet.

It's really hit home. It's amazing. I cannot believe it.

Fish course, what about that? That is so elegant.

Well, I think if we have that, though,

then I don't think we can have that.

This would be an amazing fish course.

I don't want to be that chef who has been on the shortlist three times

and then doesn't make the banquet at all.

What's the matter with that? Do we have that and that?

I think, actually, this was a better dish.

For me to represent Scotland, and for it to be fish, would be amazing.

I'd be over the moon.

Getting any course at the banquet is going to be great. Fingers crossed.

We cannot put that course in with those two other modern dishes.

-OK, what about that?

-Yes.

If I wasn't cooking the main course at the banquet, I'd be broken.

To be so close now is incredible.

That's my choice for main course.

This is the right dish.

Getting my main to the banquet would be amazing, you know.

That would be incredible, so all I can do is wait now.

So what about the pudding? We've got two to choose from.

Two beautiful, I might say, very modern choices.

I just think that that one is so elegant, but this was so delicious!

The closer you get to thinking, "'Ey up, I might be in here,"

you start sweating a little bit more.

I'm desperate to get that dish through to the banquet.

My dessert means an awful lot to me, you know.

I really want them to like it as much as I like it.

OK, boys.

Great. Job done.

Welcome back, chefs.

We have decided on the final menu for the banquet to be cooked

at the Palace of Westminster.

First of all, I have to congratulate Mark,

because your homage to the potato will be the starter at the banquet.

Thank you. I can only imagine how these guys are feeling right now.

You know, I'm in such a privileged position.

Right. Now who's going to cook our fish course?

The shortlist is...

Phil with your wonderful prawn cocktail.

Tommy with the great celebration of mackerel.

And Michael with that terrific mackerel message in a bottle.

The chef cooking that fish course will be...

Tommy.

Oh, wow.

Well done, mate. Well done. Congratulations.

Ohh! I didn't think it was going to be me.

Tommy, you look stunned.

Yeah, um... Well, great, yeah, it's brilliant!

I just... I didn't... I didn't think it was going to be me.

But thank you very much for choosing mine.

And so to the main course, the centrepiece of the banquet,

and there are three contenders.

Josh with your roast beef.

There's Mark Froydenlund's celebration of rose veal.

And Tommy, again, with your wagyu beef.

And the chef who'll be cooking the main course

will be...

..Mark.

-Well done, mate.

-Well deserved, boss, well deserved.

-It was a great dish, well done.

-Thank you.

Pretty stunned, to be honest.

I think, you know, it's an amazing honour.

Well, you've had an up-and-down week, but you've got there.

-That's the main thing.

-In the end, yeah.

So, the finale, the dessert.

In contention are Adam for your golden apple...

..and Tommy for your heartfelt hymn to your grandad and to Douglas fir.

So the chef cooking the dessert at the banquet will be...

..Adam.

Well done, mate. Well done, mate.

-Thank you.

-Well done, big man.

I don't know whether to be excited or scared.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.

I put a lot into that dish. You know, a lot.

Congratulations to all of you. This really has been, in my opinion,

by far and away the best competition that we've ever had.

Go and have a really good time!

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

-Cheers.

Thank you very much.

To have the opportunity to lead the banquet,

it's... It's priceless.

-Cheers.

-Thank you very much, guys.

Cheers, congratulations.

This is such an honour.

-'Hello?'

-Hi, Mum, it's Tommy.

'Oh, Tommy! How're you doing?'

All right. I've got the fish course through to the banquet.

'That's amazing! Oh! I don't know what to say!'

-I don't really think it's sunk in.

-Phenomenal, yeah.

No-one has this opportunity,

especially at the Palace of Westminster, and...

to be doing the main course is incredible.

I'm just amazed. I really cannot believe that

I've actually got a dish to the banquet.

Thank you very much for a fantastic week.

Beyond explanation.

Tomorrow, it's the banquet.

Order, order!

The four winning chefs...

-Come on, let's do this, then.

-Yes!

..cook for the Queen's Great Britons at the Palace of Westminster.

-Push it out.

-Yes, Tommy.

-Service!

It's time to deliver...

I'm kind of in the blind panic stage, I think.

..faultless dishes...

Spot on, boys.

..showcasing the transformation of British food

during the Queen's historic reign.

Absolutely amazing.

-Delicious.

-British food at its best.