South West Judging Great British Menu

It's judgment day on Great British Menu,

as returning chef Dominic Chapman...

I've been here three times. I want to get to the finals.

..battles it out with newcomer Tom Brown.

I'm going to stick to my guns with this one.

If that was a ten before, it's a ten today.

..for the chance to represent the South West in the national finals.

Pressure's on you or pressure's on me?

Pressure's on us both.

The prize - to cook at a glorious Taste of Summer banquet

held in honour of

140 years of the iconic Wimbledon Championships.

Today, they're cooking their menus again

in the hope of impressing the exacting panel of judges.

Matthew Fort, Oliver Peyton and, for the first time this year,

-food expert Andi Oliver.

-Does the dish need the soused mackerel?

I'm not sure whether you need it, but I like it and I want it!

It's Dom's third time in the competition and, this year,

he's determined to go through to the finals.

I genuinely think this is a winning dish.

-It's got me worried.

-Good.

But newcomer Tom thinks he's got what it takes to go all the way.

So whose one's better?

-Let's wait and see.

-With the competition hotting up,

who will triumph today and make it through?

Come on. Come on, come on.

Going forward to represent the South West is...

Returning chef Dominic Chapman has failed to make it through

to the national finals twice before,

so, this year, he's more determined than ever.

With a high-scoring nine from veteran judge Michael O'Hare

for his fish course, he's feeling confident.

To get through to the finals would be the end of a long journey.

I've been here three times, I'm as ready as I possibly could be,

and I can do it.

-Chef, good luck.

-Best of luck.

He's being challenged by newcomer

Tom Brown, who's been making an impression all week

with his Cornish summer dishes.

A perfect ten from veteran Michael for his main course

positioned him at the top of the leaderboard.

It would mean so much for me to get through today,

to represent the South West but, more importantly to me, Cornwall.

It's really an emotional thing for me.

I'm super ready for this.

This year, judges Matthew Fort

and Oliver Peyton are joined by a new member of the judging panel,

food broadcaster and restaurateur Andi Oliver.

The South West today.

Dom Chapman, returning for the third time.

I think, given his nervous disposition,

-I think he's going to be really worried.

-There's absolutely no doubt

about his quality as a chef

but he's up against a pretty tough opponent, Tom Brown,

who is the head chef at a Michelin-starred restaurant.

So he clearly has serious technical pedigree.

Tom talks a lot about his father, his mother,

his whole childhood in relation to his food,

that gives me so much hope.

I think there's lovely things about Dom's menu, 'It's a Summer Bonanza',

'Strawberry Sundancing', BBQ...

I'm quite excited.

Dom, it's your second time cooking for the judges,

pressure's on you or pressure's on me?

Pressure's on us both, you know.

All judges are different and they all have different opinions

and as long as you do your best, then that's all you can do.

Yeah.

Hello, chefs.

-Morning.

-Morning.

-How are you?

-Very well, thank you.

-Really good, really good.

Let me please introduce you to our new judge, Andi.

Now, you think Prue was hard...

You have no idea!

-She's tough.

-Dom, back for the third time, is it all under control?

It's under control at the moment.

A little nervous but hopefully that adrenaline will drive me

-to produce some lovely food.

-Tom, first time here, no pressure?

There's a bit of pressure but I think there's as much on Dom,

so I think we're even-stevens at the minute.

You've got beautiful produce to work with, right?

-Yeah, definitely.

-I can't wait to see what you put on the plate, guys.

-We look forward to it.

-See you later.

-See you later.

-Thank you.

-Cheers.

Tom is first to plate up his starter, Cowl Bysk -

a tomato and lobster soup,

his update of a traditional Cornish fisherman's dish.

It scored a seven from Michelin-starred veteran chef

Michael O'Hare because he thought it needed refining.

I think the lobster could be cut up a little bit smaller,

make it a little bit easier to eat.

I agreed with him on that, I'm going to take his advice

and hopefully the judges are going to love it.

The chefs will also be marked by a guest judge.

Today, it's Marion Regan.

Her family farm is responsible for supplying the huge quantities of

iconic strawberries to the Wimbledon Championships.

-Marion, welcome to the judges' chamber.

-Hello. Hi.

This is Andi, that's Matthew.

-Hello.

-How wonderful of you to join us.

Are you ready to eat lots of food?

I certainly am, I'm very much looking forward to it.

Both chefs have got strawberries on their menus, so I'm dying to know

-what you think about the strawberries.

-Brilliant. Yes, well,

that is something I do know something about!

How many years have you been

supplying Wimbledon with strawberries?

My father started more than 25 years ago

and we've been doing it every year since.

So many people at Wimbledon every single year,

how many strawberries do you have to provide for something like that?

It's just short of 30 tonnes

over the two weeks of the championships.

So overwhelming, I mean, what goes into producing that sort of volume?

There's a lot of preparation, planning the planting,

looking at different varieties.

-They all have to be picked by hand, don't they?

-Yes.

You can't have a machine which picks them.

No. All picked by hand, early in the morning -

after the cool of the night they're at their best -

and straight into the cooler as quickly as possible

and then onto the lorry and up to SW19.

The sort of centrepiece of the British summer is Wimbledon,

which in itself embodies the highest aspirations

and we want the same from our food, don't we?

I'm really interested in what the chefs do with fresh produce.

-I'm expecting a lot, so...

-Good!

-..I'm looking forward to it.

Tom starts to plate up his Cowl Bysk

with an assortment of blanched heritage tomatoes.

Next, he portions the lobster tails.

I'm really happy with how this has turned out.

He places the lobster tail on top of the tomatoes

and covers with Mangalica pork.

What kind of mark do you reckon this dish will receive from the judges?

Well, Michael said the cooking was perfect,

that's happened again and I've made the adjustments that he suggested,

so fingers crossed it's going to get a good score.

He tops with a quenelle of salsa verde,

then pours his tomato soup into serving jugs

and drizzles with Cornish rapeseed oil.

Service, please.

How does it feel - first dish to leave?

Yeah, good, it was the first time

I got a little bit nervous watching it go out.

-Ah!

-Ah!

-That's pretty.

-Got a nice smell, actually.

I think it looks quite pretty.

My concern is when it goes down, before the pour over,

-it's a little bit matte...

-A little bit lacklustre.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

Tomatoes are a quintessential summer taste,

aren't they? And all of these different tomatoes

do look very different, but they don't really taste very different.

-ANDI:

-Yeah. I'm a bit disappointed in the lobster.

This is a, erm, it's a little underwhelming,

I think it's a little under-seasoned as well, actually.

I really like the salsa.

To me, the salsa is absolutely like a sledgehammer.

-I quite like that.

-You mean there's a bit of flavour in there somewhere?

I think the tea could've been far more exciting,

I don't see what it really adds to the dish.

He's trying to reflect the best of produce from Cornwall and, sadly,

I just think he's failed.

Next up is Dom, with his starter

also celebrating the best of British summer produce...

Veteran judge Michael gave it a six,

Dom's lowest score of the week.

Few problems with your starter?

The ricotta split out, are you changing anything?

Going to cook the ricotta slightly less. I'm also adding a little bit

of goat's cheese to the ricotta, just to thicken it up slightly,

-so, if I can get it right, I think it's a good dish.

-Yeah.

Dom starts by plating the toasted pine nuts and raisins,

followed by tomatoes.

Next, courgette...

Come on, come on, come on.

..then his stuffed courgette flower and pickled beetroot.

It's got a lot of visual impact, that.

I hope so.

He positions poached artichokes,

chops and adds basil,

and grates over truffle.

He tops with salad leaves and edible flowers

then drizzles over vinaigrette,

before finishing with courgette slices.

He serves in a vegetable box lined with artificial grass.

-Thank you very much.

-Happy with how it went?

-Yeah, relieved. Yeah.

-It looked beautiful - really, really vibrant.

-Colourful.

-Much happier than the other day.

-This looks very...

-A bit of lawn I can see.

-Ah.

-..rustic.

I knew this would be pretty and I'm not at all disappointed.

You kept it in the boxes, Michael thought it was a bit gimmicky.

I'm telling a story and the story begins in the garden.

So if I lose the box, there's no story.

-MARION:

-I think it looks really lovely on the plate.

I think you're right, on the plate,

but then when you get into the plastic Astroturf

and this naff as old boots tray, I'm sorry,

just for the sake of good order I'm not eating off Astroturf.

It's really making you quite cross, that box, isn't it?

There is a proper feeling of summer about this,

sense of summer about this.

I'm not very keen on the goat's cheese, actually.

I feel that it masks everything else, but the beetroot's nice.

Peas and pea shoots,

it's such a delicate flavour that it's slightly overwhelmed

-by the goat's cheese.

-I think one of the key things here

that this dish needs

is something to bind the other ingredients together,

in terms of some sort of link, and that's absent.

And that's what the goat's cheese is supposed to do,

-link everything together.

-Once you start to eat, it it's just very

-disappointing.

-I think it's 0-0 so far.

-Love all.

-MICHAEL CHUCKLES

Next is the fish course.

Tom, head chef at a Michelin-starred fish restaurant,

is first to plate up his dish...

..a celebration of the mackerel caught off the coast of Cornwall.

Michael thought it was more of a starter and scored it an eight.

Everyone was expecting me to pull it out with the fish course

but then that's the only one

where you actually finished with a better score than me.

As long as it stays a point below mine today,

I'll be a very happy man.

Tom adds slivers of cured mackerel to the top of his mackerel pate,

then adds leeks and a sprinkling of thyme and dill.

Next, he puts thyme and salt-cured mackerel fillets under the grill.

-All looking amazing.

-Thank you, yeah, I'm really happy so far.

He serves with black-treacle soda bread.

-What do you think?

-Yeah, really clean, really clean.

-Yeah?

Lovely.

-Looks like pudding.

-It really looks cakey, doesn't it?

That's what I was thinking.

-MATTHEW:

-Hmm, it does, you're quite right.

This looks wonderful.

Well, it looks like we're in business at last.

It looks really inviting, I agree.

I'm really glad I didn't change anything on it.

I think it's spot-on as it is.

Yeah, it's a nice dish.

I love the pate, I love the jelly on the top,

and I'm really enjoying the bread. It is a bit undercooked, though.

-It's slightly doughy.

-It is very summery,

it has that sort of freshness to it.

Unfortunately, the gel has got an overwhelming cider flavour

which really kills the rest of the flavour of the pate.

I disagree with you there,

cos I think that's what some of this treacle bread is for,

and I think it will go rather well with it.

Does the dish actually need the soused mackerel on the other plate?

I'm not sure whether you need it, but I like it and I want it!

I'm definitely happy that it's there.

It's a vibrant, really fresh and exciting plate of food.

I'm delighted with it, I think it's lovely.

I'm actually finally excited to see that someone's hit the brief

bang on, it's making me happy.

Next up it's Dom with his dish...

..inspired by holidays spent at the seaside in Lyme Regis.

Veteran Judge Michael thought the dish was pure summer

and gave it a nine.

You feeling confident about this one or...?

Yeah, it's a nice dish.

It's definitely your best dish of the week in terms of scoring.

Hopefully we can maintain that.

Just before plating, Dom pan roasts the turbot and scallops.

Monsters, those scallops, aren't they, Dom?

-Yeah, they're beauties, aren't they?

-Yeah. Massive.

He starts with sea lettuce in seaweed emulsion

and adds the pan-fried scallop.

Next, the turbot fillet.

Yeah, all your fish looks beautiful there, Dom.

He tops with samphire, sea purslane and a seaweed crisp.

Finally, he adds a Mylor prawn

and serves with a seaweed emulsion on the side.

-Fish done.

-Fish course done.

Happy with how that one went?

You know what, I think it was better the other day.

This is a massive scallop.

-MARION:

-Isn't it huge?

Just gigantic.

-HE GNAWS

-I quite like the seaweed crisp, actually.

-Yeah.

-But that's kind of it.

The turbot's cooked perfectly fine, as is the scallop.

I do think the sauce is too acidic.

Very old-fashioned to be using a sort of creamy sauce with it.

It's difficult to know what's going actually on.

I mean, it's just two pieces of fish with some bits and bobs, to me.

Turbot's a really expensive, wonderful ingredient,

so if I'm going to eat turbot, I want to feel the luxury of that

and actually this could be any old piece

of reasonably well cooked fish.

We're supposed to be celebrating summer here

and this is not celebratory and it's not summery.

I really like Dom, he came to my farm.

I'm sure he's going to pull it back in the next two courses.

At the halfway point, the judges are reviewing their scores.

So far it hasn't been extraordinary

except for that one bright, shining moment -

hallelujah for the mackerel, I say.

It should be all about the wonderful early summer produce

and we haven't seen that except in that mackerel dish.

I'm extremely disappointed with Dom.

I mean, that food is just not good enough to go forward.

He's just forgotten this is a competition

and if you went to Wimbledon

and thought, "Oh, well, I'll just have a knock-up," you wouldn't get

-anywhere, would you?

-There's still time.

We've still got two courses to go.

We look forward to being amazed.

For the main course, Dom is first to the pass

with his summer sharing dish...

Veteran Judge Michael gave it a seven,

as he felt it wasn't refined enough for a banquet,

but Dom isn't making any changes.

I genuinely think this is a great dish. You know...

The judges with a little bit more experience in this competition,

-haven't they, and what a banquet guests like...

-Yeah.

Dom starts with his salads, couscous and tzatziki,

which he tops with dill.

Next, flatbreads.

How's your barbie coming along, Dom?

Absolutely as I want it.

He finishes his gem lettuce salad and plates his bean salad.

It's really colourful again, isn't it?

Onto a mini presentation barbecue,

he places lamb shoulder and his lamb neck and kidney kebab.

Finally, he slices his rack of lamb

and puts the cutlets on the barbecue.

Thank you very much.

-Happy with that one, chef?

-It's what it's supposed to be like, so, yeah.

Perfect.

-Ah.

-Wow!

-One to share.

-A little sharing going on.

Sharing barbecue.

All the bits and bobs.

-Smell the freshness of it.

-That's pretty.

All we need is a bit of sunshine in here, don't we?

That would be nice.

THEY CHUCKLE

For me, it's a winning dish.

-It's got me worried.

-Good.

You have that large bit.

Oh, yeah! Whoa!

Mmm. There is a feast here.

And there's a proper sense of summer about this.

That lamb's delicious. I think the chop tastes absolutely fabulous,

and I like the little gem salad as well.

I'm a sucker for little gem.

I think offal, which is a difficult one to get right...

I've just had some of the kidney, it's delicious.

It is, isn't it? My only concern would be

is it gastronomic enough for such an important occasion?

To me, this is just really good cooking.

Actually, I'm finding it really uplifting to eat,

so I can forgive it perhaps being less tricksy,

because it's making me so happy.

-Yes.

-This is really flavoursome and, again, really pretty.

He's got a real eye for colour and vibrancy.

And I must say here comes old Dom, who we'd written off at half-time,

storming back, I think.

-ANDI:

-Back in the game!

Next to plate up is Tom, with his main, Porthilly Under Roast -

his modern take on an old Cornish farm-worker's dish.

It scored the only ten of the week,

despite his fellow chef's feeling it resembled a much-loved northern

-winter dish.

-How long do those hotpots take to cook?

Dom, if I was doing a hotpot, I'd tell you!

I tell you what, it's a ten out of ten hotpot,

-so there's not a lot I can say, really.

-No.

Tom slices his beef, places into serving pots

and adds poached oysters.

He covers with a beer sauce.

Next, he serves his sweet gem lettuce,

dressed in oyster salad cream, in oyster shells

and adds chopped oyster leaves.

Finally, he tops his under roast with a potato cake

and finishes with sea purslane.

OK.

-No, it's done now. I'm happy with it, I'm happy with it.

-No, no.

-It's pressure, isn't it?

-Cheers. A lot of pressure.

This looks very dainty.

Gosh, this is so pretty, this bright vibrant green and this glossiness.

You don't think you're being a bit carried away there?

Well, it's just so pretty.

It's handsome, it's handsome.

There's nothing I personally prefer more on a warm summer's day

than a big huge beef pie!

-Ten, Tom?

-If that was a ten before, it's a ten today.

So do we lift off the top of the pie, see what's underneath?

-That's what I'm doing.

-There's the oyster inside.

-ANDI:

-Oh, yeah, look. There's a whole party going on in there.

-Yeah, there is.

-It's quite nice when you take the lid off.

I am with you, though, Oliver, it's not looking very summery.

I think the British summer, in all its glory,

includes days where you would actually like something

a little bit more hearty, And this tastes absolutely fantastic.

Yeah, I totally agree that it's tasty,

I just don't think it hits the brief.

What about the potatoes?

The potato is sort of, um...

endlessly soothing.

-There, there, dear, there!

-There, there, dear!

It's quite nicely cooked and everything, gravy's nice.

It doesn't hit the brief at all

and I have to mark it down because of that.

Is that a banquet dish?

It's not a banquet dish.

The scales seem to have changed somewhat, surprisingly.

Up last, it's the dessert course,

and with both chefs doing a take on strawberries and cream,

they're each hoping to impress guest judge

strawberry farmer Marion Regan.

So whose one's better?

-Let's wait and see.

-TOM MOUTHS

Dom is first to plate up his dish, Strawberry Sundancing -

his nod to picking strawberries in fields as a child.

He scored a nine but was criticised by Michael

for his doughnuts being under-proved.

How's the doughnuts looking there, chef?

-Yeah, got to get them golden.

-A bit more proved than yesterday?

-Yeah.

-If you get them right,

then that's definitely one for me to worry about.

To start, Dom places raspberries and strawberries into serving jars

and covers with strawberry sauce.

-Can I taste it?

-Yeah. It's actually better.

Do you know what? It tastes more of strawberries.

Next, he spoons over syllabub and drizzles over more strawberry sauce.

He sprinkles with candied pistachios

and then adds an almond wheel and crushed amaretti biscuits.

Is that another little tweak there? What's that?

Just a bit of basil.

He puts the jars in a serving basket

then fills his doughnuts with strawberry jam,

coats in sugar and places on a serving plate.

Let's go, let's go, let's go.

-Thank you very much.

-Final one, another push.

Oh!

-Mmm.

-Oh!

-OLIVER:

-That looks good, right?

-Yes, it does look good.

-MATTHEW:

-Ooh, God, the smell of those...

-They smell fantastic!

-Ooh, we get two doughnuts,

I thought we had to share.

-No.

-It's very exciting, isn't it?

Mmm.

That is a superior doughnut, isn't it?

It's made my heart beat a little faster. It's really beautiful,

it's springy, sort of yielding, not too much jam.

These strawberries are beautifully ripe, and they're very boozy,

which is rather lovely.

-Very boozy!

-I really like this pudding.

I think there's a real sense of summer and fun to it.

I think it's a modern take.

-I think it's all good.

-It's a happy pudding, it makes you smile.

For me, and I would say this, wouldn't I?

"More strawberries!"

I think it's outstanding.

I think he's getting a really high score from me on this one.

Last to the pass today is Tom, with his dessert, Sevi & Leti,

Cornish for "strawberries and cream".

He scored a nine in the week but was criticised

for the alcohol in the sparkling-wine jelly

being too strong.

Have you toned down the jellies?

Yeah, I just adjusted the ratio a little bit.

I think the guests at the banquet can drive home after it.

Tom removes his clotted cream parfaits from their moulds,

places onto brandy snaps, pipes strawberry jam

and tops with another brandy snap.

He decorates his sandwiches with fresh strawberries,

adds more strawberry jam and grates over lime zest.

Tom serves his sandwich, adds more jam and strawberries

and finishes with elderflower and lime creme fraiche

and a quenelle of clotted cream.

So it's the Cornish thing to have the clotted cream on top, yeah?

Jam on the bottom, cream on the top, always.

He serves his sparkling-wine jelly on the side.

Go, please, thank you.

-That's it.

-Done.

-That's it.

Cheers, thanks.

Ooh!

This is my idea of pudding heaven.

As soon as you see this dish, you just think, "Wow,"

you just want to tuck in, don't you?

Marion, are there enough strawberries for you?

Yes, I am delighted to see the strawberries!

So, are you happy with today?

Yeah, I feel like everything has gone out the kitchen

exactly as I wanted it to.

Wow, that ice cream is...

That's rich. That is cream ice cream, I...

That ice cream's amazing!

-MATTHEW:

-I think it's more of a parfait than an ice cream.

-Yeah.

He's dusted it with some...is that lime?

-It's lime peel.

-Lime.

I particularly love the jelly and the jelly does work really well

-with the other components.

-It's that little jammy bit in the middle.

-It's actually quite sharp, which is lovely.

-Yeah.

He's recognised that the strawberries themselves have natural

fruit sugars, so doesn't need to add much sweetness to it.

You know, what makes a great dish is that ability to take something

that's classic and just tweak it and make it your own,

and I think he's done that tremendously well here.

I think it's probably my dish of the day.

It has, for me, the perfect finish.

-What a day!

-I know.

There's a lot of pressure.

I'm interested to see what the judges say, you know?

I couldn't have done any more.

If the judges don't like it, I know I can hold my head high.

Well, blow me down, who'd have thought it?!

Disastrous morning

and suddenly an afternoon absolutely full of treasures.

Those desserts at the end, I was really just blown out of the water.

I really, really want to represent the South West, it's massive to me.

Massive deal. I've been here three times, you know?

-Did you give any tens?

-I did give a ten.

We need to add up these scores and then deliver the verdict.

-And put them out of their misery.

-Yeah, put me out of my misery.

-Yes.

-I'm dying to know!

-Welcome, chefs.

-Thank you.

-Well, Tom, it's your first time here.

-Yeah.

-How's it been?

I've really enjoyed it this week, it was a great experience.

Today, little bit stressful at times.

Dom, third time.

-Third time, yeah.

-Did the pressure get to you?

Yeah, yeah, it did in places. You know, you're wanting to do well,

so the pressure's going to get to you.

I'm sure you both now want to know which chef is going forward

to represent the South West in the finals,

and I can tell you...

..that it is...

..Tom.

Well done. Nice one.

-Cheers.

-Well done.

-Tom, how do you feel?

It's an amazing feeling, I...

You know, I just wanted to come in and cook some good food and,

you know, honestly, at the start of the competition

I didn't really think about winning, but, you know,

this is an unbelievable feeling, so...

Thank you.

THEY LAUGH

Dom, commiserations.

I really understand how important it was to you.

What can I say? A great week, great effort from this man and, you know,

I'll fight another day.

That barbecue dish was the encapsulation of all

the summer barbecues I've ever wanted to go to.

Each piece of meat was absolutely perfectly cooked.

-Brilliant, no, thank you.

-Tom, your dessert was just sublime,

that beautiful sparkling-wine jelly,

when you married it with the ice cream, it was just beautiful.

I mean, three of us gave you a ten.

-Wow.

-For that dessert, it was really sublime.

I loved what you both did with our wonderful British strawberries

and I thought you really celebrated a fantastic ingredient.

-Well done.

-Thank you for all your hard work.

-Thank you.

-Thank you so much.

Umm...unbelievable!

So, so happy, so proud.

Yeah, I can't believe I've done it.

Gutted, of course, you know?

You never want to enter a competition

and get chucked out early.

-Dom.

-Well done, mate, nice one.

-Thanks.

-You all right, happy?

-Yeah.

-Buzzing, well done.

-You've got to take it all the way to the banquet now.

-Yeah, I'll give it a go, eh?

-That's all I can do!

-Take it there for the South West.

-I hope so, yeah. Cheers!

-Cheers!