Banquet Great British Menu

Banquet day is here.

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

-Yes.

Four head chefs at the top

of their game with five Michelin stars between them.

I've just got to get it done as quickly as I can.

Mark Abbott, the highest-scoring chef in GBM history...

I've got a lot to do.

..Tommy Banks...

It's a bit like cooking with Keith Floyd,

but I'm drinking coffee.

..Mark Froydenlund...

Quite a lot of pressure.

..and Adam Reid...

That is a banqueting utensil.

Well, you know you are doing numbers when you are using an oar.

..must now serve their winning dishes.

Right, let's go, boys.

At the banquet, celebrating the everyday Great Britons

honoured by the Queen during her historic reign,

here at the Palace of Westminster.

Order! Order!

LAUGHTER

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

the chefs are showcasing

the transformation of British cuisine since her coronation...

Service!

..with Mark Abbott's extraordinary potato starter...

That's delicious.

I never knew you could do so much with a potato.

..Tommy's tribute to the humble mackerel...

-I loved it!

-He nailed it.

..Mark Froydenlund's celebration of British veal...

That looks amazing.

..and Adam's outstanding golden apple crumble...

Mm. That is gorgeous.

Delicious.

..to honour Her Majesty's Great Britons.

Thank you, it's amazing.

British veal at its best.

Quick as you can, guys.

The chefs are going...

-Right, where are my flatbreads?

-They are here.

-Ohhh.

-It's a goner.

The herbs are dying, guys.

..for gastronomic glory.

Push it out.

Yes, Tommy. Service!

It's going to be a real show stopper, though, isn't it?

-Spot on, boys.

-Whoa!

-Whoo!

It's getting real now.

It's the weekend the four winning chefs have been waiting for.

They're in London, heading to Westminster,

ready to cook for the Great Britons' Banquet.

Last night, I didn't sleep a wink, but I'm here now.

And the biggest stage of it is in front of me.

I'm really looking forward to getting in there now.

I still don't think it's sunk in.

Cooking the main course at the Palace of Westminster

is such an honour.

It's a real privilege to cook for these guys who are coming.

It's going to be amazing.

This is what we've put all our hard work into.

I just want to get in there and get cracking on.

Good morning.

-How are you?

-Yeah, good, good.

I never thought it would be a reality, and now we're standing here, waiting to go in.

-Hi, guys.

-How are you?

-Fine, how are you? Mark.

-It's good to see you.

-How are you doing, Mark? Are you all right?

-All right.

-How are you feeling? Are you nervous?

-Yeah, of course.

-Look at the size of it!

-THEY LAUGH

Got to get in there and have a look, haven't we?

-The sooner, the better, I think.

-Let's go. Let's get started.

-Yeah, best of luck, boys. Let's smash it.

-Let's go.

The chefs enter the palace by the 900-year-old Westminster Hall.

-Wow.

-It's amazing, isn't it?

-It's incredible.

It's phenomenal.

-This is actually the oldest part of Westminster.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

Today, this historic seat of Parliament covers eight acres

and boasts 1,100 rooms.

It's such an incredible building.

Just think, we're cooking here.

It's a complete privilege to be in such an event and actually

cooking a dish for the very best of Britain.

Tomorrow's Great Britons' Banquet

will be served in the Members' Dining Room upstairs.

But, for six centuries, it was in this hall that

royal banquets were held, marking every monarch's coronation.

Pretty speechless, actually. It's amazing. Isn't it?

The hall was also the site of some of the country's most significant trials.

One man who knows more than most about the building is the

Right Honourable Lindsay Hoyle MP...

Hello, how are you?

..Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons

who'll be hosting tomorrow's banquet.

Can I welcome you? Lots to tell you about.

For a thousand years, we've had great banquets here.

All the meat was roasted here.

I think the good thing is, we don't do the meat-roasting any more.

Conservationists are happy we saved the building.

Secondly, the good news is for the swans that used to get roasted as well.

So I'm going to tell you, you either come for good meals,

or, usually, it's to stand trial where you're taken away to lose your head.

We're going to have to make sure our banquet goes well.

-We don't want to lose our heads, do we?

-Shall we have a tour round?

Do you want to have a look? Come on, let's go and have a look round.

Up to 1834, this was the House Of Commons Chamber.

St Stephen's Hall is flanked with statues of parliamentarians

and murals of historic scenes.

There's one in particular Lindsay wants to show Mark Abbott.

We've got a crusade.

But more importantly, specially for you, Elizabeth I,

Sir Walter Raleigh, the man that brought the potatoes.

How could we manage without it? That's the big question, isn't it?

THEY LAUGH

-Without that, where would we be?

-Where would I be?

THEY LAUGH

Next on the tour is Lindsay's office, the Commons Chamber.

That's the chair with Mr Speaker and his deputies,

that's where we operate from. Opposition, government side.

-What do you think?

-It's incredible.

-It's impressive.

-It's a little bit smaller than it looks on TV.

-Absolutely.

It's just a surreal feeling to be in here, isn't it? You've seen it so many times.

You can see why it gets a bit rowdy in here.

Oh, it does, doesn't it? It's unbelievable. Yeah.

The best thing is, you always know where the naughty ones sit.

I used to be one of those, so I know what it's like.

THEY LAUGH

We'd better go and have a look at these kitchens, I suppose. Come on.

That would be great.

Right. For you, this is where the fun starts.

-Can I leave you to it? Enjoy, good luck.

-Right then. Let's go.

Let's go. Let's get on.

The Palace of Westminster caters for up to 14,000 people every

day from 12 kitchens across the estate.

House of Commons Executive Chef Mark Hill...

Welcome, guys. Welcome to the kitchens at the House of Commons.

..shows the winning chefs to the kitchen allocated to them for their prep.

OK, chefs. This is the kitchen you have today.

You can use it as you see fit.

One thing, guys, I need this kitchen back by seven o'clock because

-I've got guests to feed.

-Seven?

-Seven o'clock.

You need to remove all of your kit, all your food to the banqueting

kitchen, which you'll be working in tomorrow. OK?

-So best of luck and happy cooking.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

-Better get cracking, hadn't we?

First, the chefs collect their deliveries and sort their ingredients.

-It's 55 kilos of veal.

-Spuds?

-Yeah.

-Mackerel?

-Yeah.

More potatoes than you can shake a stick at.

-That's a great start, isn't it?

-Just crack on, lads, get this...

Oh, well, you know, start as you mean to go on.

That's it, mate, yeah.

Mark's complex starter,

transforms the potato by preparing it in six different ways.

Throughout the competition, Mark has pushed himself to the limit.

And today is no exception.

You know, for today-wise, souffles, bacon baskets, I don't know,

two priorities, really, they're the time-consuming jobs.

Really as much else as I possibly can get done.

To prepare for the banquet, Mark travelled to South London to

meet one of the Queen's Great Britons he'll be cooking for,

war hero, Lance Sergeant Johnson Beharry VC.

-Good afternoon.

-Mark?

-How are you doing?

-I'm good, good.

-Congratulations on making it to the banquet.

-Thank you very much.

Johnson's also a keen cook,

and wanted Mark to try one of his favourite Caribbean restaurants...

-That's gorgeous. Beautiful.

-Yeah?

-Really nice.

..where Mark learned more about the extraordinary events that led

to Johnson receiving his honour.

I was awarded the Victoria Cross for saving lives of my comrades

in Iraq in 2004.

As a driver, Johnson was leading a convoy, when his armoured

vehicle took a direct hit, but Johnson continued on.

He led the entire convoy to safety,

then pulled his platoon from the burning vehicle.

I run through the fire. When I leaned over, I look, I see my boss

right down inside the turret.

I touch him on his head, I said, "Boss, Boss, are you OK?"

I didn't get any response, so I just grab him by his head, his helmet,

pulled him out, put him on my back, through the fire,

carrying him to safety.

-Came back, get the gunner...

-So... Wow!

-Six weeks later, I did the same thing again.

-You did it twice?

Twice.

In the second ambush,

Johnson was hit by shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade.

Despite suffering a life-threatening brain injury,

he continued driving and saved 12 lives.

I've been told I went instantly in a coma,

which I stayed in for five weeks,

with less than 1% chance of survival.

And it was a moment, they was in the room,

making a decision to turn off the life-support.

I wake up.

In recognition of his actions,

Johnson was awarded the Victoria Cross by the Queen in 2005,

the highest military honour awarded for valour.

He is one of only 11 soldiers alive today with the medal.

As you can see, I've got four medals.

I've got the Victoria Cross, Kosovo medal,

I did six months in Kosovo, Iraq, and the Diamond Jubilee.

It makes me speechless. It's just phenomenal.

It just puts the whole banquet, as such, into perspective.

Inspired by Johnson,

and the extraordinary courage of our ordinary Great Britons,

Mark has created an extraordinary dish from the very ordinary potato.

But Johnson thinks he's missed a trick.

Sweet potato is one of the favourite foods in the Caribbean.

We actually call the potato Irish potato

so you know the difference between a normal potato and a sweet potato.

-Think of what you could do with that one.

-Exactly.

That's your next challenge.

I'm a little bit disappointed he haven't used my favourite

potato, sweet potato, in his dish.

But you know what? I'll let it slide this time.

BIG BEN CHIMES

At the Palace of Westminster,

the chefs are continuing with their prep.

Mark Froydenlund has 55 kilos of veal to butcher.

Obviously, we've got a bit of a tight schedule here, guys,

who's under the cosh most?

This is the key day for me.

I've got to get all the veal cured and cooking ready for tomorrow.

So this is really important.

The curing of the meat is a crucial part of Mark's main course,

a Celebration Of Rose Veal,

which champions British farmers.

The salt, sugar and spice mix firms the meat and adds flavour.

But it takes time.

-Have you got a fair bit of butchering to do, Mark?

-Yeah.

This has got to cure for four hours

and then be marinated and cooked tonight.

You know, I've just got to get it done as quickly as I can.

Mark may have to tweak his recipe.

We've got 13 racks to prepare.

Quite a lot of pressure.

We've got to be out and cleaned up by seven,

so I've got to get it done as quick as possible.

I'm going to have to adapt the curing time.

It's probably not going to have the full four hours.

Erm, so I'm starting to get a bit sweaty here.

I don't think I've seen you with a sweat on

-the whole time of the finals.

-You missed the regionals cos it was epic!

THEY LAUGH

What about a little deal, Mark?

I'll trim up a bit of veal for you...

-and then you can give me a bit of fish prep later.

-Are you serious?

-Yeah, let's do it, then.

-Yeah, that would be absolutely amazing.

Mark's British Rose Veal comes from Gateland Farm in Cumbria.

Andrew and Angela Barraclough diversified after they lost

their dairy herd in the foot-and-mouth outbreak of 2001.

For Mark, these farmers are the unsung heroes of the

British food industry.

People like this are exactly who we should be representing

at the banquet. I think it's perfect that their veal's going to be there.

-Hiya.

-Hi.

Having visited the farm in the regionals,

Mark returned with fiancee Shona

to personally invite the Barracloughs to the banquet.

Gateland's veal, all the way to the Palace of Westminster.

-Yeah.

-That'll do for me.

THEY LAUGH

We'd love it if you could come down to London and eat the veal at the banquet.

-Oh, wow.

-That is fantastic.

-Brilliant. Thank you.

You probably need to change out of the wellies and...

-Yeah, I don't think they'll let us in, do you?

-No.

You'll properly need to get a nice frock.

-THEY LAUGH

-Thank you.

After the couple lost their bull Angus,

and all their dairy cows,

they vowed never to needlessly destroy another animal again.

Instead of slaughtering the male calves that can't be milked,

they decided to rear them for veal production.

-They're lovely animals.

-They're just like people.

Some people you can get on with,

and some people you just don't want to be near.

And cows are just the same.

The original cows that we started with all went with foot-and-mouth.

-SOBS:

-Every time I talk about foot-and-mouth, it upsets me.

It were like losing everything, weren't it?

I don't think I actually realised how hard it had hit people until you see this.

-It's made us who we are what we are.

-Yeah.

-Didn't it?

-Yeah.

Not a lot of people can turn round and say their produce is going to be on the Great British Menu.

No.

Something that's always been so apparent with Mark and how

he approaches food is the produce,

so I think this is really special. And it's even more special to

see how much it means to, you know, these guys that work so,

so hard to create such an amazing product.

Mark Abbott can't make a start on any cooking

before he's peeled ALL his potatoes.

There's potatoes on every single side of the kitchen.

How many potatoes have you actually got to peel today, Mark?

-There's about 30 kilo.

-30?

-Yeah. About 400 spuds so...

There's one person who understands exactly

what's involved Mark's dish...

Mark's boss and GBM veteran Daniel Clifford.

He's decided to surprise his head chef,

and he hasn't come empty-handed.

-Afternoon, boys. Afternoon.

-A bit of a surprise you being here.

-Yeah.

-How's it going, boys? Lots to do?

-It's a bit daunting now.

-The hardest thing I think I've ever done.

-Really?

-Yeah, definitely.

-Definitely.

-Well, that takes the pressure off.

-Yeah.

-Mark, so where are you at?

-Head down into a lot of potatoes.

Well, you're lucky. I brought a peeler.

-Wow.

-So I've come down to commis for you today.

-I'm almost speechless, Chef.

-Yeah, so am I.

THEY LAUGH

Believe me, it's been ten years since I had a peeler in my hand, so...

OK, let me get my jacket on and I'll give you a push, yeah?

-Thank you very much.

-Pleasure.

I need the small ones scrubbing.

-That's going to be for bacon for my mashed potato.

-OK.

And then the big ones need scrubbing as well, but I need them peeling

because I'm using the skins to coat my little dauphinoise.

OK.

I love him to bits. He's done me really proud.

But I think, to be honest, this is the smallest I can do for him.

For his dessert, Adam's chopping hazelnut, then caramelising

to make nougat for his crumble mix.

I'd like to think I'm a big, butch pastry-chef guy,

but I don't think I am, really.

I think bakers are the ones that have, like,

the biggest stature and frame cos a baker, you're like this,

rolling bread all the time, kneading stuff.

I'm just a weedy little head chef.

Golden Empire celebrates the Commonwealth,

and is a modern take on apple crumble, using Empire apples.

It's served inside a technically difficult sugar-blown apple.

I'm going to try and double up on the amount of apples I need.

Just in case.

-Double the sugar apples?

-Yeah.

I mean, at the end of the day, all you need to do is drop one

tray of them and that's a quarter of your work gone.

For the sugar fondant,

Adam slowly heats three types of sugar with water and citric acid,

before adding gold powder.

It's looking good.

Nice, smooth, silky, gold sugar.

Getting Adam's dessert to the banquet has been a family affair.

Do some cooking like daddy, eh?

You could help him out with the banquet.

-Ga!

-Do remember where that actually first started?

-Sitting on the sunbed in Portugal.

-Yeah, course I do.

You know, you'll never let me forget that you came up with

the idea in the first place.

I wouldn't say that. It was a team effort.

You know, we were able to turn that into a banquet-winning dessert.

-So, yeah, I mean, it's all about teamwork, isn't it?

-Uh-huh.

I'm so proud of him.

I think that, obviously, he puts 100% into everything that he does,

and so I think it's thoroughly deserved.

Adam wants his dish to be perfect for the banquet guests honoured by the Queen.

Great Britons such as Kamal Hanif,

Executive Head Teacher of Waverley School in Birmingham.

Hello, Kamal.

-Hello, Adam.

-It's an honour to meet you.

-And you. Welcome to Waverley.

Thank you very much.

Kamal, a former pupil here, returned in 2005.

At the time, the school was struggling

and had a poor reputation locally.

-You've obviously achieved great things here.

-Yeah.

I think your OBE just goes to prove that.

Under Kamal's leadership,

the school improved and is now classed as outstanding.

For his work, Kamal was honoured in 2012.

It was fantastic receiving the award, and it was a great honour and privilege.

But it's also very much, I think, a recognition of all the hard work

the staff, the students, the governors,

everybody who's been behind me in achieving what we have here

for the students, and that's what it's about.

Kamal wanted Adam to meet some of the pupils.

-Hello, everyone.

-ALL:

-Hi, Adam.

An ideal opportunity for a masterclass in the science and

skill of sugar blowing for the food technology students.

Then we can just give it a little...

spin around to make sure it's upright.

Oh, there you go.

Would you like one?

Oh, what are you doing?

-THEY LAUGH

-Oh!

Do any of you guys think you can recreate one of them?

Do you want to come round?

Right then. Keep pumping a little bit.

And hold it up with your hand very gently.

-Take it off and then...

-There you go.

-Not quite as easy as it looks.

You don't want to inflate it too much. You've just got to keep it...

Ooh, there you go.

Wow, well done. You can do half of these for me at the banquet.

Give a round of applause, everyone.

APPLAUSE

He is just so creative, you know?

Apple crumble is one of my favourite dishes, but with this twist on it,

I think it's probably going to be one of the best desserts I've ever had.

In the Palace of Westminster kitchen,

Tommy has almost finished filleting his mackerel,

with a little help from Mark Froydenlund.

Preserving The Future showcases sustainable British mackerel

alongside mussels with home-grown oyster leaves,

woodruff and fermented cabbage, all from Tommy's kitchen garden.

What have you got to do after the mackerel, Tom?

Yeah, after the mackerel, I've got mussels to do,

quite a lot of mussels to prep. And a puree to finish tonight.

So if I get them mussels done, I'll be happy.

Tommy will be serving his fish dish with the miniature fir tree

he used for his dessert course in the competition.

Hey! What's that doing here? I thought I'd won the dessert.

-The dessert was to honour my grandfather.

-Yeah.

You know, he was my Great Briton. And that's what the banquet's for,

so I'm going to wheel it out with the fish course.

-With the smoke?

-Yeah, with the dry ice, yeah, yeah.

-Yeah, all the works.

-We're here

-to honour Great Britons, aren't we? So...

-Yeah.

-Why not?

Tommy's late grandfather Fred was a champion of sustainable and

home-grown produce, ideas that have shaped Tommy's cooking and befit

the honoured banquet guests.

Tommy's tree represents the forest of firs that surround the

Kilburn White Horse, a Yorkshire landmark that Fred looked after.

It's still a special place for Tommy.

I come up here to the White Horse quite a lot.

It's somewhere where I spent a lot of time with my grandfather

and I think it's a beautiful place to come.

It's his influence that's really made me the chef who I am.

Tommy grew up on the family farm nearby, now run by his parents.

Dad Tom has a role in helping Tommy deliver his fish dish at the banquet.

He's crafting the serving boards.

So the wood's arrived, then?

Yeah. It's good stuff.

I think we should maybe get six,

seven out of a board, by the look of it.

He's got his work cut out making new boards for all the guests.

-You've got a lot to make now.

-Yeah, well, I made four to go up before the judges the first time.

That wasn't so bad. But it took me until four o'clock in the morning.

So how long it's going to take me to do a banquet, I've no idea.

It's incredible. To think of where he's come from and where's gone to, really.

We don't usually do sort of overwhelming crying and

emotion in Yorkshire. But, you know, it's probably the nearest I can get.

HE LAUGHS

-Mm, that's brilliant.

-It just needs a bit of rubbing with sandpaper.

After the regional heats, Tommy changed his fish course dramatically.

He's cooking the kebab element for his dad and mum, Anne,

for the first time.

We've always had great faith in Tommy.

So we're just absolutely delighted that everybody really liked it.

Mm, it's good.

Mm.

Never had mackerel like this before, Tommy.

-Hopefully, I'll do the dish proud.

-Oh, you will, you will do us proud.

Getting a dish through to the banquet is just an amazing feeling.

I feel like honoured and humbled but, like,

really excited at the same time and really proud.

In the kitchen, Mark Abbott has made a start on his bacon baskets

which will hold his purple potato salad,

while his boss Daniel Clifford does

battle with the mountain of spuds Mark needs scrubbing and peeling.

-How are you getting on, Chef?

-They're all washed.

-Excellent.

I've just got to peel them all now.

-They're not all washed.

-Have I got more to wash?

-Yes, you have.

-This is the purple potato.

-THEY LAUGH

-This is teamwork, yeah?

-Yeah, teamwork breeds teamwork.

He's got every variety of potato on this dish known to man, and some.

So, tomorrow, he's going to be really stressed out,

and I'm going to be sitting on the other side enjoying it.

What is a couple of potatoes... between friends?

One of the elements is the highly technical and labour-intensive

pomme souffle, two thin slices of potato sealed with egg white and

cornflour which are dehydrated, then fried.

They don't always rise properly,

so perfectionist Mark needs plenty of spares.

Really, I would like to do them tomorrow but they're a bit hit and miss.

There's too many factors that can mess them up, you know?

So you just might be able to have a second crack at them

if they're no good?

Honestly, probably not, mate.

Adam's also experiencing difficulties.

Adam, do you need a hand?

No, I'm all right, mate, I just need to go to another kitchen.

He's prepared his crumble mix, but with all four chefs using

the solid top hobs, there's not enough heat to make his custard.

You know, there's too much on them,

so I'm just going to go and find a hob somewhere.

Or set a campfire up and get going on that somewhere.

-Well, basically, I'm just going to go and boil my cream.

-All right.

-I'll be back in a minute.

-Good luck.

-Cheers, mate.

I was looking really good before,

but because of this heat issue, I'm just falling behind a little bit.

I'd rather have had this knocked out by now.

I'm about to have a good hour knocking out a good amount of

apples to get going for tomorrow.

Time is running out for the chefs.

The Palace need the kitchen for another event at 7pm.

Mark Froydenlund is finishing his broccoli accompaniments,

puree and crispy broccoli.

Tommy's last job of the day is to shell his steamed mussels.

When Daniel came in and said it was the hardest day of his life,

I was, like, "Oh, I'm doing all right here.".

Before I knew it, it was two hours later. I was like,

"Oh, my God. This is turning into the hardest day of my life."

He may have brought him to his knees, but at last, Daniel's commis job for

his head chef, Mark, is done.

There's your washed.

-There's your peeled.

-Thank you very much.

There's your peeler. I'm out of here. Good luck.

-Thank you very much.

-Good luck.

-See you tomorrow, Chef.

I'm very, very grateful, but I'm not out of the woods yet.

I'm far from it. Tomorrow morning is going to be head down and run.

How's the veal going, Mark?

The veal's not been cured for quite as long as I wanted it to be,

but I've got to wash it off and start it cooking, otherwise, it's not going to be ready.

Mark vacuum-packs the veal.

He's hoping that by leaving it in the water bath overnight,

it will be perfectly tender in time for service tomorrow.

But the countertop water baths aren't big enough.

-Are you all right, mate?

-Not really, no.

I think I'm over the baggage allowance.

TOMMY LAUGHS

Yes, it's not going to work, is it?

Mark finds one of the House of Commons chefs...

-Fantastic. Thanks so much.

-You're very welcome.

-Thanks.

..who sets him up with a larger water bath which can

accommodate all his veal.

-Are you all right, Mark?

-Yeah, that was a way to finish, wasn't it?

Did you get as much done today as you expected to?

It's hard to say. No, I didn't get as much as I wanted to get done.

-TOMMY:

-I think we all feel like that, don't we?

-Yeah.

I think we'd all stay all night if we could, boys, but we have to go, don't we?

-Yeah, come on, let's get out of here.

-We'll be turned into pumpkins.

-THEY LAUGH

-Or potatoes.

BIG BEN CHIMES

It's the day of the Great Britons' Banquet.

And there's no surprise who's arrived first.

Mark Froydenlund is anxious to get back in the kitchen.

-Good morning.

-How are you doing?

-Are you all right?

-Yeah, good, mate, good.

-Hey, mate, are you all right?

-We've got to get in, guys.

I need to check on that veal. I've been waiting for you lot.

-You've not been worrying about that, have you?

-All night, yeah.

Come on, let's get on with it. We need to go.

Mark heads immediately to the water bath

to retrieve his veal racks.

-How's your veal looking, Mark?

-It looks really good, actually.

-It's worked really well.

-Oh, good.

-I'm happy with it.

-I need to get it out and try it, but so far, nice and soft.

-Good.

We'll have to cook it for a bit longer than I would have liked,

but I'm really pleased it's come out well.

The banquet will take place in the Palace of Westminster

Members' Dining Room,

where, traditionally, only MPs or former MPs are allowed to dine.

This is the first time the room is being used for such an event.

Two, three, four...

Yesterday, the chefs didn't complete as much prep as they wanted,

so they all have a busy day ahead.

It's a bit like cooking with Keith Floyd,

but I'm drinking coffee.

Tommy's only cooked his fish course a handful of times.

It was created for the national finals,

and he's never cooked it on this scale before.

-It was a bit of a shock when it won, to be honest.

-How's it going?

Kind of in the blind panic stage, I think.

I know exactly what you mean, mate.

I think we all kind of feel our backs against the wall a little bit.

Tommy's preparing the flatbreads for his pickled mackerel and

fermented cabbage kebabs.

I've never really made flatbreads before.

I actually haven't.

I had to make them for staff tea before we came, just as

a bit of a practice. What do you reckon to that?

Need to caramelise them a bit more, I think.

Yeah, a bit more colour on them.

Adam is mixing his caramelised hazelnuts

and oats for his apple crumble.

That is a banqueting utensil.

You know you're doing numbers when you're using an oar!

One thing the chefs hadn't banked on was Mark's one-liners.

How are you doing on those, Adam? Looks like you're about to crumble.

-That was a terrible joke.

-That's as good as it's going to get.

Yeah, I know, I'm looking good, mate. The crumble's out, the custard's done,

no crumbling around here, mate.

You're looking a little bit flat, Tommy, or is that just the breads?

-Oh,

-BLEEP.

-Go home! Shut up!

Well, I've got loads of time on my hands, so...

LAUGHTER

Oliver Peyton, Matthew Fort,

and Prue Leith arrive at the Palace of Westminster.

And Oliver decides to pop into the kitchen...

Hello!

..to see Mark Abbott, who's up first with his starter.

I know you've taken the ordinary potato and elevated it,

but are you sure you haven't bitten off more than you can chew?

I'm busy. You know, I've certainly got a lot on.

We're up against it today, but sometimes when the pressure's on is when we cook best.

I'm a bit busy. I'm not going to help, by the way.

-I thought you were going to give me a hand.

-No, no. Bye!

Mark gets on with the stock for the bacon jelly,

which will top the pommes souffle.

Will you look at this?

Oliver joins his fellow judges in the palace's Pugin Room.

Formerly a committee room for peers in the House of Lords,

it's now used for hospitality and is the venue for the drinks

reception before tonight's banquet.

The splendour. The Palace of Westminster is extraordinary!

Isn't it? And every inch is decorated. It's fantastic.

-It's like actually standing inside a work of art.

-It is.

Magnificent testament to past skills, and just as the menu

actually is a fantastic testament to modern cooking in Britain.

-I know, but it's a complicated menu.

-It's potatoes!

-Think of the apple.

It's mackerel!

It's roast veal.

Listen, we've got a Great British Menu for Great Britons of today.

Exactly right for our illustrious guests!

We've worked really hard for it, let's face it!

-Hang on, Prue and I have done a good job.

-Come on. Who ate the most?

It shows.

While Mark Froydenlund works on the pine nut and carrot powder

coating for his roasted carrots, Adam starts the most critical

element of his dessert, the blown sugar apples.

It's delicate work, requiring absolute precision.

-How many have you got done, Adam?

-That much.

-That much?! What? First one?

-Yeah, first one, this, mate.

Everything else is pretty much boxed,

so it's just a case of getting on with these now.

-One down. A lot to go.

-A lot to go. I've never blown sugar before.

Do you want to have a go then?

It's all right. When you get it to a nice size at shape, stop there...

-Yeah. All right.

-So, get the scissors.

-Yeah.

-And you just want to like start snipping around there.

Oh!

I think I'll leave it to you. I'll stick to prepping fish.

Yeah.

With service due to start in a couple of hours,

Tommy's parents have arrived.

Dad Tom is bringing the serving boards he's made for his

son's fish course.

Actually got to the palace of Westminster, I can hardly

-believe it's actually happening.

-I'm looking out at the river now,

thinking - what's going on out there? You know? It's quite a place.

-A bit different to home, isn't it, this?

-It's fantastic.

Hi.

-How are we doing? Good to see you.

-Oh! Good to see you!

-How are you doing?

-How are you doing?

-Yeah, good.

-What about these?

These look amazing. They look beautiful. Wow!

-It's an amazing place, isn't it?

-Absolutely.

-Isn't it a great place?

Yes. I just want to stop and look at it all, but...

No, you've got stuff to do. You've got to keep cracking on with this.

-Fair enough.

-The tree's looking good.

It will be really fitting if we carry this out and lead out

my fish dish. Nice tribute to Grandad.

You're going to do all the hard work and we're going to sit there

-and enjoy it.

-I've got to get my suit on before long.

-I'm sure you'll be looking sharp, Dad.

-Yeah. Thank you.

All day, the chefs have been working one floor below the Members'

Dining Room where the banquet is going to be held.

As they won't be able to plate up in this kitchen,

House of Commons chef Nick Wort explains what's going to happen.

-Hello, guys.

-Hi.

-Hi.

The actual banquet that you're serving today is not coming

from this kitchen. You need to go upstairs to our finishing kitchen,

which will serve the dining room that you're actually going in to.

So you need to be on track, on time and ready up there,

probably a good half hour before your actual service starts, yeah?

Well, that's an extra challenge, isn't it?

-Let us know if you need anything, boys.

-Thank you.

-We've got to move all this

-BLEEP

-upstairs again.

We've got to be even more organised. Even more on time.

You basically lose half an hour. That's six apples.

Let's break this down. I need to crack on, guys.

The Great Britons start to arrive for the banquet through the

historic Westminster Hall,

including youth worker Justice Williams MBE and

Zoe Jackson MBE, who also received a Queen's Young Leader award.

Also arriving, Layla Rahmatullah MBE, Anne Hornigold MBE,

and Les Armstrong, who received his MBE for services to agriculture.

With just an hour to go,

the chefs take a moment to see the Members' Dining Room.

-Well!

-Nice, isn't it?

-Yeah!

-It's definitely fit for a banquet, isn't it?

-It's beautiful.

-Stunning.

Wow! You look around the room,

everyone has three letters after their name,

like, everybody's been honoured and that kind of ups the pressure

-for me a little bit. It's incredibly humbling.

-I'm a bit nervous now.

It's almost giving me goose pimples on my arm, you know what I mean?

-It's going to be euphoric when we get this out.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Entering through St Stephen's Hall, Lance Sergeant Johnson Beharry VC,

with his wife Melissa.

To be here at the banquet,

sitting amongst loads of Great Britons is amazing.

Johnson met Mark Abbot as he prepared today and in his honour,

Mark's decided to adapt one starter just for Johnson.

One of his favourite vegetables is sweet potato, so I thought

the least I could do is put a bit of sweet potato in the dish.

Nice touch there.

Chief Superintendant Victor Olisa arrives with Reverend John Wood,

who received an MBE for services to his community.

Mark Abbott's parents and sister arrive,

along with the rest of the chefs' families.

It's actually happening now. We're actually here.

The banquet's just about to start. I'm just so very excited.

I feel very proud in such a special building and now I just can't wait, obviously,

to see what everyone thinks of the food and see Adam later.

Guest of honour, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons,

Lindsay Hoyle MP wants to check the chefs are ready for service.

All right? How are we all? All right? Good to see you again.

Everybody's arriving. No pressure,

but I've just seen my first VC walk in, Victoria Cross there.

I can feel the heat of the kitchen rising as we're speaking.

-Unbelievable!

-That's just us, yeah. It's not the kitchen.

-It's just you! More importantly, are they going to love the meal?

-Of course.

-Of course they are.

-That's brilliant!

-Confidence.

-Confidence! That's what you've got.

-Best policy.

-So the wife's with me, so I promised her a good meal.

Don't let me down.

-OK, all the best.

-Nice to see you.

-Chat to you afterwards. Bye.

It's half an hour before service and the judges are dressed for dinner.

Mark's first to arrive in the upstairs kitchen,

ready to plate up his complex potato starter.

It's getting real now!

-BLEEP

-I didn't think it would be like this!

Veteran chef Simon Rogan, who is Adam's boss, and Daniel

Clifford, Mark Abbott's boss, have both cooked at the banquet before.

They've got to produce the goods. Got to be just as good as they were when we originally tasted it.

The rest of the chefs decamp to the service kitchen upstairs.

Louise Greer BEM is here, as well as Kamal Hanif OBE.

I, as many of the others I've talked to,

we just see ourselves as being normal individuals.

But to be seen as Great Britons is a little bit surreal.

But it's a great privilege, being at the banquet today.

RNLI volunteer Steve Davies MBE arrives at the drinks reception.

Along with OBE recipients, autism campaigner Anna Kennedy and

charity fundraiser Lynn McNicoll.

All the guests have now arrived and in the kitchen,

the chefs are ready to go.

-So I'm going pommes puree with Mark.

-Yeah.

You're going in with the basket.

-Yeah.

-You're on croquette.

-Who's cooking the croquettes?

-We're cooking them now. We're cooking everything now.

-Let's go.

Mark's dish is made up of potato prepared six different ways,

including delicate pommes souffle.

-Two at a time.

-Yep.

-Nice dunk on there. Don't be scared.

The banquet guests take their seats.

Enam Ali MBE helped judge the Central region.

Walk into the palace, it's just amazing.

I feel so proud and so honoured to be here.

This is wicked! Being here is surreal.

-Chief, can you put 12 on there?

-Yeah, yeah.

And then get them straight under the vice. Time's going to run away here.

You just seem to be getting the elite of everything,

all together, the chefs, people who have done great stuff in

their community and, you know, the seat of power.

You couldn't ask for more.

There's so many people out there that are just fantastic really.

Makes Great Britain a great place.

OK, chefs. Guests are all in, they're sat down, service in five minutes.

-Yes, thank you very much.

-OK.

-Right, lads.

Let's get these finishing touches done.

Order! Order!

Deputy Speaker Lindsay Hoyle welcomes the guests.

Hello, ladies and gentlemen.

Can I welcome you to the Great British Menu Banquet.

Today, we're in the Members' Dining Room.

The Great British Menu Banquet of Great Britons is the first

ever even of its kind to be held in here.

We're all making a little bit of history.

In that kitchen,

we have four of the most skilled and talented young chefs in the country.

Loads of truffle on top. Celebration.

We boast a total of five Michelin stars and they're cooking for us and

it doesn't get better than that.

Of course, this historic building is my office.

I'm the Deputy Speaker to the House of Commons,

which means keeping order during some of the famously heated debates.

You can imagine, I'm relieved to be surrounded by such polite and

well mannered guests.

Ladies and gentlemen, if I can now call order, the service will begin.

Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.

THEY APPLAUD

It's that time of the evening, boys. First one up.

What else have we got to do?

-Put it on a plate.

-OK. Good. Cos I've lost track of elements.

Yeah, me too.

First up is Mark's celebration of the ordinary everyday potato,

the only dish from finals which went straight through to the banquet.

Can I have the first 12 consommes, please?

-Yes.

-Spot on, boys. Nice. Really nice.

OK, service, please.

Service!

The herbs are dying, guys.

Thank you very much. Let's go.

-Wonderful.

-It's beautiful, isn't it? Really beautiful.

As the first plates arrive in the dining room...

Right, let's go, boys.

..the hard work continues behind the scenes,

as Mark checks that each plate leaving the pass meets his

high standards.

-Tom, will you grab some chives for the...?

-Yes, chef.

-You've really sweated over this, but it looks fantastic, mate. Well done.

-This looks great, mate.

Thank you very much. Right, next ones.

I think, every day, you need to eat a potato for your lunch or whatever.

And I think Mark has changed the whole system of cooking potatoes.

-It's amazing.

-I love it.

-Mm.

-I never knew you could do so much with a potato!

Soup's coming out now.

-Boys, these are looking spot on, thank you.

-Soup's up.

Service!

Unbelievable!

Mm!

-Do you not think that pommes souffle was fantastic?

-Absolutely beautiful!

-Just... Oh! Disappear in your mouth!

-Delicious.

I would have eaten five or six times that amount because I'm northern!

-Last 12, boys.

-Yeah.

-Pass me over another packet of herbs, please.

How many have we got of the nasturtiums? Are they fresh?

-Yeah, they're beautiful.

-Just like you, Tom?

-Yes, mate.

There's a special one here, lads.

It's got a sweet potato in the basket, instead of purple violets.

VIP's on this table, Mark?

More than a VIP, mate. This guy is a living legend.

Service.

-Go on.

-Relax.

As promised, Mark delivers the final plate to the banquet as

a surprise and tribute to Johnson Beharry.

-Good evening.

-Evening to you.

As sweet potato is your favourite food,

I've hidden some under a little bit of truffle.

Ah!

Thank you. It's amazing.

That was great, wasn't it? What an effort.

-Glad I don't work for Mark.

-I know!

Is there anything else you could have put on that?

We put Mark's dish straight through from the final to the banquet

because it was fabulous then and it's fabulous now.

Yesterday, I came in and peeled the potatoes and I don't really

want to take the glory away from Mark.

I don't know if that's given it the edge or not.

It was an amazing dish anyway.

And I think he's done himself really, really proud.

-How's it going, lads?

-Well done!

-That's set the standard, mate.

-We've got to follow that now. What was it like in the room?

-Oh, the atmosphere's electric.

Seeing people eating and... Yeah, it's quite special.

I need a hand now. I've got a lot of work to do.

-You've got both of mine coming at you.

-Come on, let's do this then.

-Yes!

Tommy's fish dish requires a great deal of last minute cooking.

So it's a team effort.

Do you want me to start blowtorching? Tommy?

-Yeah, go on then. Blowtorch the loin first.

-Yes, chef.

Tommy pan fries his steamed mussels and heats the

sea vegetables in mussel juice.

-Can you just check the blowtorch on this, if you're happy?

-Yeah, absolutely black.

You can go a little bit blacker on that one.

With the boards his dad made ready at the pass,

Tommy takes charge of service.

-Cauliflower puree in the bottom of 12 bowls.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Silver skin mackerel, lift that straight in on top of the cauliflower puree.

-Do you want to check that? Is that enough?

-Yeah, that's perfect.

I'll follow round with mussels.

Can I get some beers brought over, please?

The dish is served with a beer infused with the herb woodruff.

-Mark, thank you, start bringing 12 kebabs over. And place them here.

-Yep.

-On each plate.

Grab a hammer.

The pickled mackerel kebab is attached to each board with

a blacksmith's nail.

One guy grab a smoker, one guy grab the tartars.

-I've got the smoker, yeah?

-Yeah.

Adam fills the bespoke bowls with oak smoke.

Can I get the platers in? Service, please!

OK, quick as you can, guys. You've got smoke in there. It needs to go on the table.

OK, straight in with the same again then, Adam. Off you go.

-Cauliflower puree. Mark, fish.

-Yes, chef.

Leading Tommy's dish into the banquet hall is the fir tree,

a reminder of home and his Great Briton, his grandfather.

APPLAUSE

The whole idea was the mist coming off the top of the forest,

back in Yorkshire, and I felt it had arrived here, his grandfather,

my father, it was him, he was there, you know?

It was good.

That Tommy Banks is a devil, isn't he? He's a little devil!

Absolutely fantastic!

Chief, you're all over this.

-Starting to get a rhythm, Mark.

-Yeah, let's keep it going.

Right, smoke, Adam, if you want to get smoking again.

OK, service, please!

Start picking up when they've been smoked, please, and start going.

12 more.

With me getting the fish dish last year, it means a lot that Tommy

did it, representing the North East, and he's really nailed it today.

That was a delicious plate of food.

-Smoked flavour.

-Yeah, it's delicious, isn't it?

Right, last table, boys. Same jobs.

-Let's push it out.

-Yes, Tommy!

-OK, are you ready, Adam?

-Yeah.

-Well done.

-That was a stupid dish to do for a banquet, wasn't it?

-I feel your pain.

-I thought HIS was complicated!

-Ridiculous!

-If we can do my course as well as that, I'll be over the moon.

-You're doing yours on your own, mate.

-Oh, great(!) OK.

I'm finished off after that.

Incredible.

It's a fairly cheap fish to buy, but what Tommy's done with it,

it was quite spectacular really.

Didn't think you could do such a thing with a mackerel.

To be fair, we've never eaten this dish as a whole.

This is the first time. Just spot on.

He nailed it.

-Right, Mark, you get 12 plates out, we'll start plating.

-Chef.

Then you can go straight away with the puree.

It's now Mark Froydenlund's turn to serve his celebration of

British roast veal.

Tommy, just need to carve them like this.

They're all slightly different shapes, but generally,

just make sure everyone's got a nicely cut piece.

-12 up for each table and 12 carrots coated in the crumb, OK?

-Yeah.

Farmers Angela and Andrew Barraclough,

who supplied the veal, can't wait to see how it goes down at the banquet.

Who know Mike will cook it right,

it's just as long as everybody sort of likes the rose veal,

yes, we are very excited.

In the kitchen, plating up continues.

-So, guys, that's it. One piece of the rib.

-Beautiful, this, Mark.

It's probably better than when I saw it in the finals, I think.

-Veal's cooked perfectly.

-Looks stunning. Stunning.

Service, please.

Adam adds black garlic puree just before the plates leave the pass.

This is very important it goes in front of the veal farmers, please.

Just put it down onto the table the same time as the plates.

Thank you.

-OK, just getting the next ones ready, please, Tom.

-Yep.

Second sauce for that table, please.

Thank you.

Sorry.

Very emotional.

That we've got to this stage, makes it all worthwhile.

Sorry.

It is a nice piece of meat.

I'm biased though.

When we put the bone on, guys, just give it a bit more space on this one.

That looks amazing!

Absolutely amazing!

MOUTHS

Couldn't be prouder to be here right now and eating Mark's main course.

It's absolutely fantastic.

I'm just so, so happy for him and he deserves it, which is the most important thing.

-That's great, guys. Thanks very much.

-Yeah, looks great, Mark.

I thought my dish was simple.

Seems to be getting harder as we go along.

Service, please! Probably a little bit less sauce, guys.

It's coming out of the nose of the cow!

Thank you. Just tilt it back slightly, please, guys.

I haven't really tried veal before, so it's a first for me,

but it's absolutely delicious. I'm sold.

So I will be trying it again.

When I judged this dish in the regionals, I loved it.

To see how other people have enjoyed it as well,

I feel a sense of great pride, but also tremendous enjoyment as well.

Thank you, Mark.

Come on, guys. Last set here.

-Main course 2016.

-Home straight.

-Teamwork makes...

-The dream work.

Thanks, Mark.

When foot-and-mouth happened, everybody thought that was

the end of the world, but we're more resilient than that.

Move with it. And obviously Andrew did with the veal.

And that speaks for itself.

British food at its best!

OK, service, please.

Yes.

-Main course done.

-Thanks, guys.

-Well done, mate. That was stunning.

-Another big push.

-Thank you.

The dish has been a hit, especially with Mark's mum, Karen.

Not being a very adventurous cook myself,

I'm just surprised at the things he produces.

Just a few little ingredients and he can produce an absolutely

-delicious meal.

-You're not meant to say that.

-No.

You're meant to say he learned everything he knows from you!

-Stop that. Start again.

-I can't say that!

To see our own produce on the table in front of all these people,

if you think what they've done in their lives,

to earn their medals, and then to see our food there and see

the reaction, yeah, it's an honour really.

-Three courses gone.

-One more to go.

-No pressure, chief.

-Good point.

Adam's golden apple will provide the finale to the banquet.

He has to make his apple snow granita at the very last moment,

freezing apple juice with liquid nitrogen.

It's been delicious. I've really enjoyed it tonight.

Now I'm just waiting, obviously, for the dessert.

I'm going to build the apples, it's the most delicate part,

and you don't want to get involved in it, trust me.

Tommy, if you can just keep loading the pass,

so that I can put apples in.

Mark, if you can do the snow.

Mark, if you can lift the lid up, bang it straight on,

-call service, waiters in and go.

-No problem.

-Yeah.

-Right, let's do it.

-Let's finish this on a high, eh?

So far, the chefs have worked as team,

but it has to be Adam who fills the fragile sugar blown apples.

First with meadow sweet custard, followed by hazelnut crumble,

then apple compote.

Every apple must reach the guests in one piece.

OK, can you get ready to snow?

-Looks perfect, Adam.

-It's going to be a real showstopper, isn't it?

-Well, that's the idea.

-BLEEP.

-There goes the first one!

As you can see, they're exceptionally brittle.

Service!

Oh, wow! Surely, that's not edible.

It is!

Wow!

Mmmm!

That is gorgeous!

-Are we all good there, guys? Going at a steady pace?

-Yeah.

-We're good, mate. We're very good.

-How are you doing on the snow there?

We don't need to be stingy, but pace yourself.

-We need at least 20 per box.

-Yep.

Good to go here. Come on, I'll change that.

I'm not happy with that one, guys. Let's do another one.

Can you just take it out of the bowl?

Can I get bowls on the top shelf, please?

Service!

It looks too good. We're not eating it.

No way.

Absolutely phenomenal.

The sugar work on the apple's stunningly beautiful. So wafer thin.

To deliver that for a banquet is beyond my comprehension.

-How many casualties have you had so far on the apples?

-So far, two.

-BLEEP.

-One second. I need to change that one. It's a goner.

-Let's make that three, guys.

-Three down.

Service!

I love how when you open it up, it's a complete surprise.

You don't know what's going to be inside it.

-Another casualty.

-Are we all good there?

-No worries.

I'll replace it now.

I can imagine the stress in the kitchen,

but he's produced such a fantastic dish.

-BLEEP.

-Flippin' heck.

I'm just so proud of Adam, for everyone to have enjoyed it so much.

It's brilliant and it still tastes like gran, mum's apple crumble.

You've done an amazing job on this, mate.

-It's not over till the fat lady sings, mate.

-No.

-She's not far off.

-Service!

-That is absolutely brilliant!

-This is one of your five a day.

It's absolutely amazing! I would actually say it's probably the best dessert I've ever had.

And I'm somebody who likes his desserts.

One more, Adam.

2016 Great British Menu complete.

Well done. Brilliant.

-That was really good.

-Cheers, mate.

-THEY CHEER

-Well done.

-Well done, Tom.

What a day, eh?

Who's cleaning up, boys? Cos I'm going for a gin.

I might follow you.

I think people were as overwhelmed with it as Prue, Oliver and I were

the first time we ate it.

It was the perfect end to a really fabulous dinner.

It's time for Kamal Hanif OBE and

Lance Sergeant Johnson Beharry VC to close the banquet.

I'm sure everybody will agree

we've had some absolutely amazing dishes today.

Right from the starter, right through to the dessert.

-So, we'd just like to introduce the chefs.

-Our first chef, Mark Abbott.

CHEERS AND APPLAUSE

'Every single plate went over that pass perfect.

'I'm made up. Now, I could lie down and sleep for a week!'

And our second chef, who prepared the fish dish, is Tommy Banks.

CHEERS AND APPLAUSE

'I've had a brilliant time. I've loved every minute of it.

'I feel amazing right now.'

Thank you very much,

I think today's been one of the hardest days of my life,

which makes me feel pretty pathetic really in

a room full of people who have achieved so much.

This opportunity is just something I'll be forever thankful for,

-so thank you very much.

-CHEERS AND APPLAUSE

And for the main course, the amazing rose veal, Mark Froydenlund.

CHEERS AND APPLAUSE

'To look around the room and see all of the medals, all of the awards that people have got...'

-Thrilled to bits.

-'..you can just tell there's some really incredible people here

'and to have been able to cook for them tonight has been amazing.'

And finally, but not least, Adam Reid, for his dessert,

the golden apple, and I know how difficult it is to make

because I tried making the golden apple with him.

CHEERS AND APPLAUSE

'This has been one of the hardest experiences of my career.

'Definitely. But it is absolutely and utterly worth it.

'I feel on top of the world.'

CHEERS AND APPLAUSE

I've got to say, this has been a great evening. Superb.

I wouldn't have missed it for anything.

I don't know about yous, I'm done in.

-Yeah. Your round, mate.

-No problem at all.

-Let's go.

-All right, boys.

LAUGHTER