North East Fish Great British Menu

This year on Great British Menu...

-Oh!

-..24 of the country's top chefs...

This is it. I'm just going to go for it.

..are competing to cook at a glorious Taste Of Summer banquet

celebrating 140 years of the iconic Wimbledon Championships,

the oldest and most prestigious tennis tournament in the world.

This week, battling to represent the North East

in the national finals are

newcomer Danny Parker,

whose ambitious 22-ingredient starter

saw him take the lead yesterday...

I could definitely see this dish at a banquet.

Well done, Danny.

..Josh Overington, a fellow first-timer,

who's only one point behind...

-He said it was delicious.

-He didn't say mine was delicious!

..and returning champion Tommy Banks,

who is shocked to find himself in last place.

You've got to roll with the punches a little bit

so I'll come back fighting.

Today, they're cooking their fish courses.

The pressure is on now.

And with former banquet winner, Tommy, playing catch-up,

it's anyone's game.

That is a lot of butter on that.

You're not going to be playing a lot of tennis after this, are you?

To make it through to Friday's regional final,

the chefs must produce outstanding dishes celebrating a taste of summer

and Wimbledon's 140th anniversary.

Returner Tommy Banks, who got his fish course to the banquet

last year, is currently in third place on seven points.

Josh Overington is ahead of him with eight points,

while Danny Parker leads on nine.

So, fish. How are you feeling, guys?

I think, for me, there's three courses to go

and it's anyone's game at the moment.

He said it was going to be close, let's hope it carries on.

Judging their dishes is veteran chef Jeremy Lee,

who is renowned for his classic British cuisine.

Hello, chefs, how are you?

-Very well, thank you.

-Good, thank you, yeah.

Today is the fish course. Tommy, this is the course

that got you through to the banquet last year, isn't it?

Yeah, I don't think this dish could be any more different

-from last year's dish, to be honest.

-Don't forget,

you're celebrating 140 years of Wimbledon, so shall we turn

this kitchen into the Centre Court? And may the best cook win.

-Good luck.

-Let's go.

I expect the fish dishes cooked today

by three young, enthusiastic chefs to be bright, bonny

and not rich and heavy. I don't like that.

Newcomer Danny Parker is hoping to stay at the top of the scoreboard

with his dish, Celebrating With Bubbles,

honouring Wimbledon champions from years gone by.

-Danny, how are you?

-I'm good, Chef. How are you?

Very well, indeed, thank you.

The fish course, traditionally one of the strongest courses

on anyone's menu. What's going to make your one stand out?

These fantastic, amazing scallops.

What are going to do to these scallops to make them so special?

-I'm not going to cook them.

-A-ha. And then?

I've got champagne that I'm turning into a jelly,

various different types of grapes,

we've got the sweetness coming from some golden sultanas.

So, sultanas, green grapes AND red grapes?

-Yeah.

-The whole pantheon.

-Yeah.

-You've got an enormous amount of dill here.

-What's the dill for?

-Going to make an oil

and from there I'm going to emulsify that with some egg yolks.

It's going to come out bright, bright green.

As soon as you start speaking about Wimbledon,

the first colour that pops into your head is obviously green,

-so green needs to be in the dish.

-A dish to win a championship?

I definitely think it's going to win a championship.

Well, I look forward enormously to tasting it.

-Good luck with it.

-Thank you.

Grapes and champagne and raw scallops.

Odd. It's a very odd sounding dish. So, I'm curious to see whether

the lad is going to pull it out of the hat for this one.

Josh is also looking to Wimbledon champions

and celebrating their victories in his dish.

Game, Set, Pop.

Having been criticised for a lack of spark with his starter,

he's hoping this course will put him in the lead.

The size of that lobster! Hello, Josh. How are you?

-I'm very well thank you.

-Feeling good?

-Yes, very well.

-I get the sense of great luxury here.

I'm assuming this is a principal part of your fish dish.

-It is.

-Tell me.

I'm making a shellfish stew with champagne and truffle.

The main elements that I'm going to cook is these beautiful

Shetland mussels which I'm going to cook in the champagne.

Then I'm going to make a hollandaise to thicken up the sauce.

-Mm.

-I'm going to poach the lobster here

and these beautiful Orkney scallops, I'm going to slightly blowtorch.

I'm also making a champagne foam.

Not unlike your neighbour over here.

Yes...

And this is going to be your winning dish?

I hope so. I think it's quite a strong one.

It's got very, very bold flavours which work really well together.

Well, I look forward immensely to see what on earth you're going to do

-with all these ingredients.

-Thank you.

-Good luck.

Incredibly luxurious ingredients and lots of them.

Is Josh's dish a taste of summer?

I, as yet, am unsure.

It's very rich.

Returning banquet champion, Tommy, is hoping his dish -

Turbot With Strawberries And Cream,

which combines unusual summer ingredients -

will move him out of third place.

Tommy, how are you?

Yeah, very well thank you.

So what are you going to do today to put yourself back at the front?

I think I've got a really good dish. It's turbot

with strawberries and cream.

Turbot, strawberries and cream.

-Yeah.

-Not so well known with a fish course.

-Yeah.

-How is this going to work?

Exactly, I didn't want to do strawberries and cream as dessert

cos it just seems a bit cliched and obvious. It didn't seem particularly inventive.

So, I wanted to do it as a fish course.

So, I'm roasting the turbot traditionally.

Serving it with tartare vegetables

which will combine with several different types of strawberry in it

and then the cream element is a classic fish cream.

What's going to make this dish win for you?

This is summertime.

It's strawberries and cream. It's definitely Wimbledon.

I think the colours are fantastic. The reds and yellows and greens.

I actually finish the dish with fennel pollen

which is very floral as well.

And are you feeling confident about this dish?

Yeah, I like this dish a lot.

But, mind you, I liked my starter a lot, so...

I'm just going to get my head down and cook it right for you.

Cook your hearts out, lads.

-Good luck. I look forward to it. Thanks very much.

-ALL: Thank you.

I think Tommy's dish of turbot, strawberries and cream...

Highly eccentric.

It's a very curious recipe, but I'm fascinated.

Despite all being friends outside the kitchen,

with the scores so close,

each chef is pushing hard to get ahead of the others.

I want a higher score today.

I think this dish is easily going to be able to do it.

It fits the brief pretty well. I'm pretty confident with it.

Obviously, Jeremy bought into my idea last time

and I hope he buys into this one again.

You're cooking sco-llops and your cooking sca-llops.

That's cos you're further north.

-Yeah, that's essentially what's happened, yeah.

-So they are different dishes.

-Yeah.

Josh is currently in second, just one point behind Danny.

He's pushing the boat out with his luxurious fish stew,

Game, Set, Pop, featuring two sauces and three types of shellfish.

He starts by preparing his scallops,

before cooking the mussels in champagne.

Obviously I got slammed on the starter for being a bit wintry.

-Stew.

-Yeah, it's quite a light stew, though.

A stew? A light stew.

Well, you'll have to see the lightness and the elegance of it, won't you, boys?

Let's hope you don't end up looking stew-pid.

Oh!

POP!

BLEEP, BLEEP

Was that the pop in your dish, then?

That's the pop there.

Oh!

Danny will be serving all the ingredients in his dish,

Celebrating With Bubbles,

raw, including the star ingredient,

Isle of Orkney king scallop,

which, instead of cooking, he'll marinate in white verjus vinegar.

You can come and cook my scallops since you're not cooking yours.

It is a good job you're up first though, Danny,

cos you haven't actually got anything to do, have you?

Well, scallops sing for themselves, don't they?

Danny is serving his dish with an unusual champagne jelly

accompanied by cubed Granny Smith apple

in the hope its sharpness will offset

the sweetness of the jelly.

Hi, Danny. How's it going?

Really well, chef. Really well. Nice and busy.

What's going on with all these?

-This is the champagne jelly.

-Oh, right.

So, I'm going to very finely dice this

and do exactly the same with the apple.

Then mix them together with a bit of dill oil.

Oh, wow. Are you keeping the apple raw or are you going to cook that?

-The apple is going to be totally raw.

-May I?

-Yeah.

Oh, high champagne flavour.

Jolly indeed. And are you going to go for quite a dense, firm jelly,

or quite a loose, wobbly one?

-Quite dense.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

Well, Danny's making this jelly.

I'm quite curious.

And then serve it with raw apple, even more curious.

So where the dish is going, I've got no idea, at this stage.

Tommy made it all the way to the banquet last year,

with an elegant and refined mackerel dish.

He's hoping his more luxurious dish of turbot,

served with a twist on strawberries and cream,

will get him there for a second time.

He starts by filleting the turbot,

before placing in a bag, along with melted butter,

and cooking sous vide.

You've got to focus on every tiny thing.

Cooking fish is ten seconds either side, you're dead.

So it's got to be right.

Next, he slices fermented and pickled green strawberries,

which he'll serve alongside fresh red strawberries.

Ah, the famous pickled strawberries.

Yes. So these have been fermented.

I'm going to dice them and mix them with all the other vegetables

in the tartare. It will be nice and sweet, and add a lot of depth.

I'm also just going to dress some in salt and elderflower vinegar

-and put that on top of the fish, as well.

-A-ha!

The colours are very, very, very, very pale green and limpid.

Have you got anything bright and sparkly to go in there?

Yeah, I've got bright red strawberries,

golden beetroots, as well. The chive oil's bright green,

so I don't think you'll think it looks insipid on the plate.

-Thank you very much.

-Good luck.

Josh is still working on the stew for his dish, containing mussels,

scallops and lobster.

You guys should be nervous.

Last course, took it easy. You've got a sweat on now.

Imagine what score I'm going to get.

Maybe taking it easy's the way to do it.

I really wanted to use really luxurious ingredients,

especially lobsters.

I mean, lobsters in the summer months are the most sweetest,

so that's what I really wanted to put them on for us in the banquet.

To find out more about the lobster at the heart of his dish,

Josh has come to Staithes in North Yorkshire,

where the summer delicacy has been caught for hundreds of years.

Today, he's meeting local lobster expert Sean Baxter.

Staithes used to be one of the largest fishing ports in England,

so the tradition goes back a long, long, long way.

In its heyday, there was 300-400 fishermen

fishing out of this village.

A huge, huge industry.

There's five boats fishing out of Staithes now

and they're catching up to 100-150 pot lobsters a day.

-Lovely.

-But that's not every single day.

In the summer months,

the calmer waters should bring the lobsters closer to shore,

making them easier to catch.

As you see, today, with this weather we've got here now,

there's absolutely no chance whatsoever.

-It's far too rough.

-Far too rough.

The marine crustaceans can grow up to four feet long

and weigh up to 40 pounds.

It's believed they can live to 100 years of age.

So when's the best time to catch these lobsters?

Summer's the best time, one, because the weather's better

-and it's easier for fishermen, but, two, the meat is better.

-Yeah.

That's when they're at their sweetest.

These are lobsters caught locally.

Here we have a lovely old male, an older gentleman of the sea.

-Yeah.

-You can see the barnacles on him.

He is quite a big, old one.

-Yeah, beautiful.

-You can actually see the difference.

-This is a lovely old lady.

-Yeah.

-She's actually got eggs.

Carrying thousands and thousands of eggs here.

But only one, if they're lucky, one, will survive into maturity.

-Really?

-This is such a magnificent old female.

This one we will actually release her back into the sea.

Lovely, to make more lovely lobster for us in the future.

Yeah. Better and more and more lobsters.

Back in the kitchen, Josh has moved on to the hollandaise sauce,

that he'll add to his fish stew just before serving.

But with the heat of the stoves, there's a danger it could split.

-How's it going?

-Very well. Yeah. Really well.

-Hollandaise.

-A bit of a concern to you?

-Well, obviously if I split it.

-Oh.

-It's the main thing what could go wrong.

-May I try it?

-Oh, be my guest.

That's a very rich sauce, isn't it?

What are you going to add to that to then bring this into summertime?

I'm going to add the mussel stock.

I'm going to add some different types of vegetables

to give it a bit of crunch

and some freshly-grated truffle into it as well, to make it really interesting.

-Are you feeling lucky?

-I don't think I need luck.

Danny's moved on to the central element of his dish.

In contrast to his starter, which contained 22 ingredients,

for his fish course he's focusing on just one.

Scallops. After slicing, he pours over verjus, a grape vinegar,

and leaves to marinate.

Do you not think it's a bit simple, just serving one shellfish?

Whereas I'm doing three.

Not really, no. I think it's a fantastic product.

I don't understand why I'd want to mess with that, really.

For a banquet, though, it's one of them things.

Not everyone likes raw shellfish, they might want

a nice bit of turbot roasted in butter.

Danny's also serving a dill emulsion,

but he's worried the pungent herb

could overpower the other ingredients.

The biggest concern with my dish right now

is that I don't have the emulsion made.

It's doable, but I am a little bit behind.

Tommy has moved on to the cream aspect

of his turbot with strawberries.

To softened shallots, he adds vermouth, white wine and fish stock.

Followed by double cream.

Having been criticised by Jeremy for a wintry starter,

Tommy needs to make sure the richness of his sauce

doesn't take this dish down a similar route.

I've got a whole litre of double cream there.

It's pretty naughty.

In the hope of lightening the sauce, he'll add chive oil,

just before serving.

It's starting to transform now.

The magic's happening.

With time running out, Josh has moved on to his champagne foam,

which he makes by placing his champagne sauce in a syphon gun.

OK.

Next, he prepares his lobster,

which he'll add to the stew just before serving.

My dish comes together all at the end.

If I get it right, it nails it.

If I get it wrong, yeah, I'll be getting a one

or something like that.

First to plate up is Danny, with his dish, Celebrating With Bubbles,

honouring Wimbledon's past champions.

-Are you happy with everything?

-I think at this stage, you have to be.

Well, there's no turning back, is there?

Definitely not, no.

Danny starts by lining the bottom of champagne bottles cut in half

with grape vinegar gel.

Followed by marinated raw scallops.

And his dill emulsion.

Next, pickled sultanas and sliced breakfast radish.

A lot easier to plate up than the last course, Danny.

Yeah, it's a lot easier for me to plate up.

I mean, I did get a nine for my last course.

-Well, congratulations.

-Have I not mentioned it?

He adds cubes of apple and champagne jelly,

garnishes with mixed flowers, and places in presentation boxes,

along with a mini bottle of champagne.

Golly, gee whizzikins! Look at those!

A hamper. Look at that.

This is the box of champagne

that the winners of Wimbledon would receive.

Fantastic. Gala stuff indeed.

-Tommy, what do you reckon?

-It looks amazing.

-Doesn't it?

-On that note, would you excuse us while we go

-and taste this?

-Absolutely.

The thought and care and attention to detail

and the sheer exuberance and extravagance is fantastic.

Great presentation again.

The whole thing, really special.

Nice and fun. Yeah, we have to see how it tastes.

Are you happy with how this has come out?

I'm really happy with how it's come out.

I'm happy of texture of the scallop.

Scallops are lovely and sweet,

but I think you could have a little bit more salt.

-The dill is actually quite strong, as well.

-Yeah.

I'm intrigued by champagne jelly and apple and scallop.

It needed some acidity to come and take some of that sweetness away,

so the apple was an obvious addition.

There's a lot of sort of juice that's come out of it, which is...

I think it may be the champagne gel cos I can't find any gel

-in the dish.

-Right. You think it's melted?

I think it's melted.

Cubes of the jelly, you've not made them as firm

-as I thought you might be.

-It's bringing a different texture,

not a crunch, or anything like that, just a different texture to the table.

For the effort, you know, I'd score him high.

But the execution, not so much. I think I'd give him a six.

I agree. Some of the execution is just not there. So, a six.

But if you had to score yourself, what would you give?

I'm going to hedge my bets and I'm going to say nine again.

Now then, Danny. How did that go?

I dare say, I think he liked it.

-Yeah?

-Yeah. Could be wrong.

-Wouldn't be the first time.

-Yeah, yeah.

But I do, I think he really enjoyed that.

Tommy is next to plate up his dish, Turbot With Strawberries And Cream,

in tribute to the summer strawberries served

during the Wimbledon Championships.

At the last minute,

he pan-fries his waterbathed turbot in butter, to add colour.

-That is a lot of butter on there.

-Yes, a tremendous amount of butter.

You're not going to be playing a lot of tennis after this, are you?

While the turbot rests, he plates his vegetable strawberry tartare

of green and red strawberries.

Next, he tops his turbot

with pickled and fermented green strawberries.

And fennel pollen.

Very summery.

He serves his cream sauce in a jug

and splits with chive oil for freshness.

So, this is Turbot With Strawberries And Cream.

-How are you feeling?

-Yes, feeling quite good.

-Quite good?

-Yes, well, you never know, do you,

until you find out the scores!

-Walk this way.

-Yes.

Turbot, you know, it's the noblest fish in the seas.

Do you feel it's cooked right?

I do, I think you can see it's slightly translucent in the middle

and that's how I like to eat my fish.

Yeah, wow. The fish, I think, is cooked absolutely beautifully.

You don't feel that cream's too rich?

If I'm serving strawberries and cream, it's got to be cream.

I had my doubts that this sauce might be too strong,

but it's not, it's balanced fantastically.

And then the tartare, lots going on.

Do you think they all work together on the dishes for you?

Yes, I think they all come together and make a really crunchy,

light sort of refreshing edge to it.

Fish with strawberries?

These are delicious, your green ones,

I think there are absolutely fantastic.

I'm not sure about the red, though.

Fair enough.

It's one of the nicest fish dishes I've tasted in a long time.

This is banquet-worthy, easily.

And so, Tommy, how do you think you would score this dish for yourself?

You don't like my red strawberries, so maybe a nine?

How you going, all right?

Now, then, what do you think?

I thought it was near perfect.

Thank you very much.

It annoyed me how nice and how much I enjoyed it, I'll be honest!

Last up to the pass is Josh's indulgent dish, Game, Set, Pop,

inspired by the victories of Wimbledon champions.

Just before serving, Josh adds the hollandaise to his shellfish stew,

heating gently in the hope it won't split.

Don't heat it up too much.

Exactly. Pressure's on now.

Like that, it can split.

-How's it looking, Josh?

-Pretty good, pretty good.

He spoons the stew into the bottom half of a champagne bottle.

Adds the lobster.

And blowtorches his scallops.

It's practically raw. It will finish off cooking on top of the heat

of the stew underneath it.

He tops with champagne foam...

..sea fennel and black truffle.

Whizz, bang, pop!

Yes. It's got really good flavour,

celebratory elements to it and I think it looks quite nice.

Excellent. Well, without further ado, shall we?

-Absolutely.

-Please.

Mm.

Oh, that's a right busy dish,

there's a lot going on there, isn't there?

I just wanted something that exuded, you know,

elegance and, you know, celebration.

All the shellfish is cooked delicious.

I can't taste any scallops there because I had a mouth of sea fennel.

You need to wash the grit out of your mussels, though,

-if you don't mind me saying so.

-No.

The seasoning on the mussel stew there is fantastic.

It's really, really tasty, that.

I'm intrigued, Josh, by having two significant sauces in this dish.

Do you need both?

If I didn't have the champagne foam

-you would question me of where is the champagne?

-A-ha!

I think, for me, that champagne foam

is really, really strong.

Were you to score this dish yourself,

what might you think you might award it?

-I'll say a seven.

-Modest indeed.

-How was that?

-Yeah, brutal, guys.

-Are you worried?

-Yeah, a little bit.

I'm not as confident as I was on my starter dish.

See, I thought it was delicious.

I just hate this bit. Something I'm not in control of,

which is what Jeremy is going to say to me!

Gentlemen, how are you?

-Very well, thank you.

-Well, the fish course.

Danny, I'm going to start with your dish,

Celebrating With Bubbles.

Well, it has to be said,

you've made a magnificent effort in terms of presentation and style,

hats off. Really, well done.

I like the scallops in the marinade and I liked the dill emulsion.

I thought you could have done with even more of that in the dish.

However...

..the champagne jelly was sadly unnecessary.

Overall, I would have liked a slightly cleaner fish dish.

Josh. Your dish -

Game, Set And Pop.

The lobster and the scallops were very well cooked,

and I actually enjoyed the scallops more than the lobster,

unusual for me.

I loved the hollandaise sauce, and you did very well not to split it,

bravo.

However...

..I thought you only needed one sauce

and I wonder if indeed you needed the champagne foam at all.

I don't think this dish was a taste of summer.

It was very rich and very creamy.

Tommy.

Your dish,

Turbot With Strawberries And Cream,

I thought was a very accomplished dish.

The turbot was excellently cooked.

I loved the vegetable tartare, that was delicious.

And I do think strawberries and fish can work,

and I really liked the pickled and fermented ones particularly.

However...

..I think the dish would have been more beautiful and more harmonious

on those plates without the red strawberries.

And the cream sauce, incredibly rich.

So, to the scores.

Josh, I'm going to start with you.

I'm going to give you a score of...

..eight.

Danny.

I'm giving you...

..a score...

..of eight.

Tommy...

..I'm giving you a score...

-..of nine.

-Thank you.

If you lost those red strawberries,

you could well be on your way to a ten.

It's the main course next.

I'm looking for light, elegant dishes

that can happily take their place

at a Wimbledon banquet.

-See you tomorrow.

-Thank you.

-Well done, boy.

-Well done, boys.

At the halfway point, Tommy is now level with Josh on 16,

while Danny is still one point ahead on 17.

It's good to get a nine. That's better than yesterday.

Yes, we're so close to each other it's not even funny!

I feel it's about time now that I need to push myself

and stop getting the eights and get in front.

I'm not comfortable with a one-point lead, I can tell you that!

I need the nines and tens to keep me in the lead

because I know them two boys,

they're going to produce some really good main courses.

I just can't let it slip.