South West Dessert Great British Menu

This week on Great British Menu,

three of the South West's most talented chefs.

Michelin starred Josh Eggleton,

who narrowly missed out on getting to the banquet last year.

I'm feeling the pressure.

Jude Kereama, who crashed out of the competition last time,

failing to cook for the judges.

You think you're on track, then all of a sudden, something is missing.

And new to the competition, Chris Wheeler,

a classically trained chef with a taste for the theatrical.

Showtime!

In the year the nation marked the Queen's 90th birthday,

the chefs are paying tribute

to the everyday great Britons honoured throughout her reign,

and competing for the chance to cook for them at a special banquet

at the iconic Palace of Westminster.

Yesterday, Josh and Jude both scored eight for their main courses...

Finally, you're making an impact with those flavours.

Thank you.

..keeping Josh top of the leaderboard

and moving Jude into second place,

while Chris lost points for putting style over substance.

You've put presentation above the food.

Today's dessert course is Josh's chance to clinch victory.

He is aiming to maintain his high standards.

I think that's, like, the hardest dessert I've ever had to do.

Only two points separate Jude and Chris.

One mistake now could cost either one the competition.

Unfortunately for me, it's really a good mix.

The chefs are competing to create dishes

that are a fitting legacy to our modern Elizabethan age,

and a celebration of the complete transformation of British cuisine

during the Queen's historic reign.

Judging is veteran Lisa Allen.

A Michelin-starred chef and former banquet champion,

she's looking for innovative dishes.

I want to see some contemporary, modern techniques.

A real chance to stamp your personality on the plate.

Basically, this dessert has got to be good enough

to be served to the great Britons at the banquet.

So, how are you feeling after the main course?

Lisa's really hard to impress, so we've got to be perfect, don't we?

Hopefully, she's going to find the fun side of desserts,

cos mine's fun again, and obviously, so far, it's not worked with Lisa,

so I really need to pull this out of the bag!

I need a ten. Well, today, I need a really good score.

You're only a couple of points behind, which is easily gettable.

I could make a big mistake and you could just do the perfect dessert,

so I've just got to do everything perfectly,

or else I'm going home tonight.

I might be six points clear, but anything can happen with dessert,

and I've got a real simple dessert, so I need it to set.

It doesn't work, then it's over for me.

Good luck for today, boys. It's going to be a tough one.

First up is Josh.

Last year, he scored a perfect ten for his dessert.

He's led all week,

but he knows his dish is an unusual choice for a banquet menu.

To be honest, I am quite nervous about this dessert,

with Lisa being a real tough judge. It's not the end, you know!

Josh. Hello.

All right? Yeah, you?

Yeah, good. Six points ahead of the rest of them.

Yeah. Are you confident?

No, no, not confident. I need to produce a dessert.

Otherwise, I'm going home, aren't I? Tell me about your dish.

So, this dish is called the Re-emergence of the High Street.

At the start of the Queen's reign,

most people would go to the high street to get all their produce.

Over the years, this has been lost, and for me,

I can see this coming back, and I think it's fantastic.

So this is about bringing everybody together

and celebrating great British local produce.

Wow. I'm going to use quite a few vegetables in this dessert.

I'm going to make a white chocolate and beetroot ice cream.

Right, OK. And put it in a soft-serve machine.

What have you got, an ice cream van?!

I haven't quite got a van, but I've got a nice ice cream cart, yeah.

Intriguing. And then I'm going to make toasted hazelnut cone.

Yeah. The garnish is, I'm going to do a carrot tuille,

so it's going to be nice and crunchy.

I'm going to do some frozen cells of raspberries.

I'm going to make carrot cake,

then just do some little cubes of that. It's kind of build your own.

You can put on there what you want, and it's a bit of fun.

If the ice cream works! I was going to say!

So the ice cream's the star of the show.

The ice cream is the star of the show,

and if I don't get the mix right, and we've got no ice cream, then...

Well, best of luck. Fantastic box.

Thank you very much.

He's using vegetables in his ice cream.

I think, you know, it can be classed as a modern technique,

because using vegetables in a dessert

has become more popular nowadays.

Next up is Jude.

He's struggled to find form with his flavours,

but impressed veteran Lisa with his Fusion Of Spices main course.

Today, only a top score will see him cook for the judges.

It's really important today. I've got to get a good score.

Got to beat Chris and keep him at bay.

Hello, Jude. Hello, Chef.

Are we in for another good dish?

I hope so. Excellent. Tell me a bit about the dish and the name.

Well, my inspiration for this dish is Last Night Of The Proms.

So, many artists that have been honoured by the Queen

have performed at the Last Night of the Proms,

so that's the quintessential night for great British music,

so what I'm going to do is celebrate it with one of Great Britain's

quintessential desserts, the Eton mess, but with just a slight twist.

So you think that Eton mess is one of the best desserts in Britain?

I think everybody loves Eton mess,

but what I want to do is elevate the Eton mess

by using a few different components on there,

make it a little bit more exciting.

So I'm going to make meringues,

I'm going to do some white chocolate macaroons with mint in the mix.

Macaroons? Yes, macaroons, yeah.

OK, so you're putting meringue and macaroons on the dish. Absolutely.

I'm going to make a strawberry liqueur syrup,

and I'm going to make that into a jelly.

I'm also making some mint opalines as well,

so just some nice glass shards of mint.

So, focusing my flavours on mint, strawberries and white chocolate.

Best of luck. Thank you, Chef.

He's really got to get the balance right.

I want to be able to taste the mint,

but I don't want it to overpower the dish,

so it's going to be a very fine line.

Finally, third-placed Chris.

Veteran Lisa has marked him down for allowing his theatrical presentation

to overshadow his classical skills.

Today, he must perfect both to stay in the competition.

Desserts are normally the fun part of the meal.

So mine's really fun. So hopefully, Lisa's going to get this one

on the fun side and give me a real, nice, high mark. I need it!

Chris, how are you feeling?

Good. I'm ready to, you know, take the lead!

Exactly! That is the fighting spirit we want.

Only two points behind. Fantastic box of ingredients here.

Tell me a little bit about it and the inspiration for your dish.

OK, so this dish is Showtime.

Right, OK. That sounds like we're going to get theatrical props again!

My main inspiration is musicians and performing artists

that have been honoured by the Queen.

OK. I'm going to make four mini-desserts.

So the first dish is going to be an ice peach sorbet,

infused with Earl Grey tea.

Right, OK. And that's going to be the sweeter dessert,

so that's going to represent the boy bands. Right, OK!

And then we're moving on to a ginger...

A spice ginger and white chocolate panna cotta.

So, obviously, has to be Ginger Spice from the Spice Girls.

You're not a Spice Girls fan, are you? I am, I'm afraid, sorry!

Oh, boys! What's your favourite Spice Girl?

Five spice!

Allspice? Nice answers, boys!

So now we're moving on to do our granola and coffee cheesecake,

and that's for Elton John, because it's done in the shape of a piano.

Right, OK. Interesting!

And then we've got the chocolate biscuit cake,

and I'm going to use Amaretto biscuits, some dark chocolate,

a little bit of popcorn inside.

Right. And I'm going to turn that into a drum

to represent the Beatles.

Very interesting to see how it all comes together, and best of luck.

Thank you. Thank you, Chef. Cheers.

Wow. Is he going to pull it off?

Is it style over substance?

I'm not too sure. The proof is in the eating.

As cooking gets under way,

Jude is intrigued by Josh's decision to use vegetables in his dessert.

So, I guess it's very Josh Eggleton, doing a vegetable line of dessert,

turning everything upside down, as you do?

I actually do quite like to use vegetables in desserts.

Beetroot goes really well with chocolate and desserts.

It's a good combination, you know?

Josh is working on his vegetable ice cream.

He starts by roasting beetroot, which he blends for the puree.

Then whisks egg yolks, sugar, glucose and milk powder together,

before heating cream and milk and incorporating

to create a custard base for his ice cream.

He then adds an emulsion of beetroot puree

with white chocolate to the base.

Do you have any concerns with your dish?

Yeah, getting my ice cream to set and to get it to whip.

I'm using a soft-serve machine and it's gravity fed,

so I need at least eight litres to make it work correctly.

Really? That's a lot of ice cream!

That's a lot of happy people as well, I guess. Yeah.

Josh is making a self-serve dessert,

and he needs his ice cream to have a smooth, creamy consistency

when it comes out of the soft-serve machine.

Basically, they're building their ice cream,

so you're not actually doing a lot, is that right?

Well, I'm doing all the work at the start, so, you know.

Then there's a bit of fun, so you can build your own.

In true British style, they'll be queueing for stuff, yeah.

The British love queueing. We're famous for it.

Jude is hoping his twist on a classic British dessert

will keep him ahead of Chris and see him cook for the judges tomorrow.

Are you actually crushing it up like an Eton mess, or will it be...?

Yeah, it will be, then I've got some little meringues as well.

I've got some macaroons in there, strawberry liqueur jelly.

He starts by vacuum-packing strawberries

with oranges, lemons and mint for his strawberry liqueur syrup.

Hello, Jude. Hello, Chef. What have you got here?

This is my liqueur,

and I'm straining this off now, and hopefully,

that should be a nice, fresh taste.

So, if this isn't right, a lot of your elements won't be right?

I'm afraid so.

Do you think it's got enough strawberry flavour?

I've got fresh strawberries in the Eton mess as well,

some dehydrated strawberries.

Trying to layer those flavours of strawberry, so hopefully,

when they're all together, it should all mix really nicely.

Well, I'll leave you to it. Thank you, Chef.

In third place, Chris is once again producing a theatrical dish,

but hopes his flavours and technique will win over veteran Lisa.

He starts with the iced peach tea sorbet,

by infusing sweetened peach syrup with Earl Grey, before churning.

Then pipes into a guitar mould.

So, guys, how did you do last year with your desserts?

Was it one of your stronger dishes? Yeah, I got eight last year.

It was very difficult.

I got a ten last year for my dessert.

A ten? Yeah.

That's not what I want to hear, you two!

Chris travelled to St Albans

to meet someone who knows all about Showtime.

Zoe Jackson is only 26,

but has been running her own performing arts school

since she was 16.

Up! Down! Again!

Hi, how are you? Yes, I'm good.

Can I join in? Of course you can! Let's go!

ALL: Yeah!

Go, Jermaine! Whoo!

Go, Ruby!

The chop. Chop, chop, chop, chop.

Put it in the oven.

And down.

Flip the pancake!

Whoo!

Yeah!

Zoe has also established a performing arts charity

to help disadvantaged young people follow their passions.

That's the heart of everything that we do.

It's about inspiring and empowering young people

that can't afford access to the arts

to live their dreams, regardless of their background.

That's amazing.

In 2014, Zoe was honoured

with the Queen's Young Leaders Award at Buckingham Palace.

So what did you have to do, actually, when you met the Queen?

We had to turn, we had to do step, together, step, together.

Right hand out to shake, left hand out to receive the award,

and then curtsy, and then step back, step back, turn, and walk away.

Was it like a dance? A bit like a dance, yes.

And I'm going back to meet the Queen again to receive my MBE in December.

That's really amazing.

To get Zoe's seal of approval for his Showtime dessert,

Chris has prepared a sample.

So there we go. We've got a chocolate and coffee cheesecake

with granola base and tempered chocolate.

Incredible. On the day, it's going to be in the shape of a piano.

Oh, that's amazing. That is so, so, so good.

Think I'm going to win? Yes.

Perfect. Let's do this.

OK, I'm just going to eat this whole thing. Enjoy. Mmm!

Chris is working on his white chocolate truffles,

just one of six elements to his complex dessert.

He adds a splash of coffee liqueur and pipes into moulds...

..before moving on to the chocolate biscuit cake.

All right, Chris?

Yeah. Just making my coffee popcorn.

And what's that for? For the modern take of the chocolate biscuit cake.

OK. It's going to go into a drum. So what singer are you on now?

We're now on the Beatles. The Beatles.

I would sing to you, but my voice is not good!

I've got to throw it out there, Chris -

you've got a wild imagination, to come up with stuff like this.

I am crazy.

Josh is preparing the different vegetable toppings

to his DIY ice cream dessert.

He infuses lemon thyme in cream and milk for a puree,

and reduces a beetroot syrup to drizzle on top.

He moves on to the carrot cake cubes,

adding chopped walnuts and grated carrots to the mix.

Then bakes.

He's making hazelnut cones from scratch,

pouring batter into a waffle maker,

and using a cone mould to create the shape.

Hi, Josh, are you all right? How are you doing? Are you in control?

Yeah. I mean, well, I'm waiting for my ice cream to set, you know?

How much time have you got left? About 15 minutes.

Are you worried the ice cream might not set?

Yeah, course I am. It's the main part of my dish.

So, yeah. Exactly. Well, looks like you've got lots to do.

Yeah. I'll leave you to it. Cheers.

I'm actually really worried for Josh.

He's got 15 minutes left to go,

his ice cream is not even in the machine.

For his reimagined Eton mess,

Jude is making a white chocolate and mint macaroon,

which he hopes will bring a new dimension to the British Classic.

He makes an Italian meringue before folding in

to ground almonds, icing sugar and green food colouring.

Next, the white chocolate and peppermint ganache filling.

For his jelly,

he combines strawberry liqueur syrup with gelatine, and leaves to set.

What are you doing, man? Have you brought the whole shop with you?

Yeah. Only you could do this!

To fully chill his ice cream,

Josh must transfer it to the soft-serve machine.

Timing is key.

How's the ice cream, buddy?

Fingers crossed!

Right, I've lost power. What happened there?

BLEEP sake!

How long do you churn it for?

Well, if it can't stay on...

It won't start. The machine won't start.

I'm going to unplug it.

Gone? Yeah. Power's off.

There we go.

Right. How long's it going to take now, do you think?

It needs to be on plus 4 degrees. It's on plus 14 at the moment.

Now I'm hoping it's going to come down in temperature,

see what happens, but I don't know. Don't really know.

Chris has prepared his spiced ginger panna cotta.

a tribute to the Spice Girls.

To make his cheesecake,

he lines the base of a tray with granola

and covers with a creme fraiche, cream cheese and espresso mix.

You've got quite a lot going on with your dessert.

I've got about five or six different elements. You know me.

I never do one thing. Honestly, Chris,

I don't think there's anything simple in your repertoire. Yep.

Hopefully, there's something on the plate for everybody.

Josh is first to serve

his contemporary beetroot and white chocolate ice cream dish.

He's hoping his ice cream will have cooled enough to serve.

It's actually not that bad.

I'm surprised about that.

He seals the base of the hazelnut cone with dark chocolate,

then adds lemon thyme puree.

Next, the garnishes.

Carrot cake cubes and frozen raspberry cells.

Josh's presentation represents a traditional British high street,

with market stalls.

Is that where you live? Yeah.

What is it, the whole road? Yeah, it's the whole road, yeah.

He adds the carrot tuille to a market stall,

then the beetroot syrup,

carrot cake...

I think I'm ready.

..and frozen raspberry cells.

SHE CHUCKLES

You can do the honours, if you like.

Wow. And then I can garnish it for you.

Just right in front of the eye, wait for it to click in,

and then pull it down. There you go.

Whay! Straight back up. Whoa-oh!

Look at that. I could have a job in an ice cream van!

And then, you can put a carrot tuille in there if you like,

put a few of these cells on.

A bit of carrot cake,

and then some beetroot syrup.

Lovely.

There we are. Thank you very much.

I must admit, it looks lovely. What do you think, boys?

It looks amazing. It really does look amazing.

I'll leave you guys to make your own ice cream.

We'll go and try. Thanks.

So, this is beetroot ice cream?

This is beetroot and white chocolate ice cream.

The balance between white chocolate and beetroot in the ice cream?

Yeah, I'm happy with that.

He was worried it wasn't going to set in time,

but I think the consistency's perfect. It is. It is perfect.

Carrot cake on the top. It's just a little garnish, really.

I like the nuts in there. I like the spice.

Amazing carrot cake, but I don't see

the reference to be on top of the ice cream.

The cone? Yeah, the cone's nice and crispy.

You don't want it to be soft.

It is quite messy.

Maybe a little bit.

If you had to score your dish out of ten, what would it be?

I think it's a bit different,

so I think I'd like to get an eight for this dish.

I think the props have the wow factor.

I'm just a little bit concerned. It's an amazing ice cream,

but is it going to be a finale for a banquet dessert?

Jude is next.

He finishes the traditional part of his modernised Eton mess,

folding cream with meringue and macerated strawberries.

Josh! You all right? How do you think it went in there?

I think it went all right, but you can never tell.

She's a tough cookie, isn't she?

I think that's the hardest dessert I've ever had to do,

and it's just an ice cream. You were running around like me!

To a serving plate, Jude adds Eton mess,

then the mint and white chocolate macaroons.

Next, strawberry liqueur jelly.

I don't know if it's me or the jelly, you know? Wobbling.

He tops with fresh and freeze-dried strawberries,

chocolate mint,

mint opaline shards and strawberry sorbet.

Everything going OK? I'm getting there. It looks great.

Thank you. It's really good.

He adds white chocolate treble clefs.

Is everything going OK, Jude?

Just about coming up, Chef.

And finally, a facade representing the Royal Albert Hall.

Home of the Proms.

I'm just giving you a little tipple, Chef.

What do you think, guys? Looks great. Well done.

So, are you happy with the overall dish?

Well, I don't want to use the pun -

the proof is in the pudding, but it's true.

OK, let's go and try it. Brilliant.

Doesn't look like a mess. Looks really pretty.

Yeah, it's a Hilton Tidy! Yeah.

The meringue, is that the consistency you were going for?

Yeah. There's some that have been soaking a little bit more

in the mess mix and some have been sitting out,

so some are crunchier than others.

Yeah, nice softness. The meringue's got that nice crunch to it.

The texture of jelly, are you happy with it?

That's how I'd like it.

To me, the jelly is perfectly set, actually.

It just kind of gives in your mouth.

Do you think you've got enough strawberry kick in your sorbet?

I think so.

That's lovely. Real nice.

Palate cleanser.

Are you happy with the flavour of the macaroon?

It's definitely got the mint flavour in there.

Peppermint flavour's getting a bit... Too much in the back of your throat. ..too intense.

So, if you had to score your own dish out of ten, what would it be?

Eight, to get away from Chris.

Obviously, I'm quite worried now. That's a good dessert.

Finally, Chris.

Inspired by the Beatles and Abbey Road,

Chris is using slate as a road,

with a Beetle car and a 12-inch record for a plate.

All right, mate? Hey, mate. How are you doing? Yeah, good.

How's that? Yeah, good.

A difficult one, isn't it? And it's my last chance.

I'm just looking now at Chris, what he's doing, and I'm thinking,

you know, have I done enough?

Chris creates a zebra crossing with coffee snow,

which he tops with a chocolate biscuit cake

representing a drum kit...

..with chocolate drumsticks.

Next, granola and coffee cheesecake makes Elton John's piano.

He moves on to the Spice Girls-inspired ginger panna cotta.

I'm just making the famous Union Jack dress to go round the outside now.

White chocolate truffle lights go on the zebra crossing.

He then finishes the grand piano with a tempered chocolate cover.

What's this?

This is my peach iced tea sorbet.

Boy band style. Yeah.

This is the one I most dread.

Does it play a tune, as well?

I will sing for you. Oh, fantastic!

Finally, he adds a ginger sugar twirl

to his Spice Girls panna cotta.

That's cool. Mind carrying one for me?

Yeah, no problem.

I must admit, Chris, it does make me smile.

What do you think, guys? It looks great.

It looks great. Confident, Chris?

Hopefully. I want that ten. Let's go and try.

If you were to serve this, is it for

one or two people? Just for one person. It's only...

Like a tasting dessert.

Are you happy with the flavour? Yeah, I think at first,

you get the peach flavour, you get the Earl Grey come out afterwards.

Unfortunately, for me, it's a really good mix.

It's... It's balanced, isn't it?

And this is the ginger panna cotta? Yeah.

I can't taste any sugar.

No.

Can't taste that much ginger, either.

So, this is the chocolate drums.

The balance of the popcorn and the nuts, do you think they work well?

I think the popcorn lightens it a bit, cos it's fluffed it up a bit.

Popcorn comes through, doesn't it?

You know, when you think about how rich the chocolate is...

The piano. Yeah.

The cheesecake, I'd like to have it a bit more crunchy.

We haven't finished. We've got the edible... Edible...

There you've got the lights. Cheers. Cheers.

Can't quite taste that coffee, can you, in there?

If you were to score yourself out of ten, what would it be?

I'm going to say...

nine.

You wanted ten for the dish.

Where's that extra point gone?

You're going to give that to me, cos I'm a modest man.

Hey, Chris. Hi, guys.

How are you doing? Good. Well done. How was that?

It was good. I got Lisa to smile.

Wow! Did you like the dish?

Yeah, I enjoyed it. Do you think I'm going to pull it out the bag?

I was here last year, and I was the one to miss out,

and it wasn't great when I left here.

Hopefully, I've done enough to stay.

Hello, chefs. ALL: Hi.

A long week. Yeah, very long week.

Chris, I'm going to start with your dish, Showtime.

I'm amazed at what you produced in the time allocated.

Your peach and Earl Grey sorbet was very tasty.

And you've been very creative.

But...

..the portion was far too big.

The chocolate cake was too rich,

and the flavours didn't really work in the panna cotta for me.

Jude, for your dish, presentation was very pretty.

It was lovely and light to eat,

and I think the jelly was set just right.

But...

..there was too much mint, and it overpowered in the macaroon.

I didn't get the white chocolate.

And the strawberry jelly didn't quite have an impact, for me.

It needed more strawberry flavour.

Josh, your dish.

This was fun, original, and a very exciting idea.

I can really see it making an impact at a banquet,

everyone queueing up for an ice cream.

The carrot cake was tasty,

and I really did enjoy the bursts of fruit,

the frozen fruit that you put on there.

But...

..for me, I felt the ice cream was a bit too sweet.

It needed more balance.

The cones were a little inconsistent.

Mine was burnt.

So, to the scores.

With a score of eight, giving them the highest score across the week...

is...

..Josh. Thank you.

How do you feel?

I feel relieved.

So, there's two chefs left.

But only one can go through to the judges.

Jude, going into dessert, you were two points ahead of Chris.

Chris, for your dish, I'm giving you...

..a six.

Jude, for your dish, I'm giving you...

..an eight.

So, Jude, you're going through to cook for the judges tomorrow.

How do you feel? Really excited.

And I can't quite believe it.

So, Chris, I'm really sorry.

It's phenomenal how you put so much effort into your dishes.

Jude and Josh, good luck for tomorrow, I wish you both the best.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Chef.

Well done, guys. Well done, Chris. Well done, guys.

It's been a great week cooking with you, and it's a shame...

It's cool. We had a fun week, though.

Obviously, I'm disappointed not to be cooking for the judges,

but the two guys did a really good job.

Chris has been brilliant all week,

and he's put his heart and soul into his plates,

so to get through, get past Chris, it's a great feeling.

Big day tomorrow. I can't even think about tomorrow.

Yeah. Tomorrow's going to be a tough day. Yeah.

Yeah, really happy, through to the judges,

I didn't want to be going home on Thursday, so yeah, I'm delighted.