North East Main Great British Menu

This year, on Great British Menu...

The pressure's on.

24 of the country's top chefs...

Everything's got to be perfect.

That's what we're here for, isn't 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,

a first-timer Danny Parker,

who, with two courses down, is still in the lead.

You've made a magnificent effort, hats off.

Fellow newcomer, Josh Overington,

just one point behind after cooking his fish.

If I get it right, it nails it,

if I get it wrong, I'll be getting a one or something like that.

And returning banquet champion Tommy Banks,

who, having won yesterday,

is now in joint second place with Josh.

Starting to transform now.

The magic's happening.

Today, it's the main course,

and with so little separating the chefs...

Zero or hero moment, isn't it?

..the competition is heating up.

Doing an American-style barbecue.

-TOMMY:

-Yeah. For the Great British Menu.

To make it through to Friday's Regional Final,

the chefs must produce outstanding dishes

that celebrate A Taste Of Summer

and mark Wimbledon's 140th anniversary.

With two courses down, Danny leads with 17 points,

with both Josh and Tommy just behind on 16.

Big one today, boys. The main course.

If there is a day that anyone's going to pull away from the pack,

-it's going to be today.

-I'm hoping I can do it.

I think there's going to be a point in it at the end, to be honest.

Someone's going to be disappointed.

Judging their dishes this week is veteran chef Jeremy Lee,

renowned for his sophisticated seasonal British cuisine.

-Good morning.

-Morning.

-How are you?

-Very well, thank you.

-Very well, thank you.

Day three, the dawning of the main course.

I'm very much looking forward to tasting food

that will celebrate a British summer,

140 years of Wimbledon.

And I can't help feeling it's light, it's elegant, it's beautiful,

with great produce and I look forward to it very much.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

HE SIGHS

I had very high expectations from the fish course,

which didn't quite materialise.

But the main course, if they are to shine,

this is where they will shine.

In joint second place,

Josh is hoping to score highly today with a personal dish

paying tribute to summer memories with his late grandfather.

-Good morning, Josh. How are you?

-Very well, thank you.

What are you cooking for us today, then?

So, it's called Grandad On The Barbecue, Drinking Red Wine.

-Look at that.

-Yes.

He was always the one manning the barbecue,

and he always had a glass of red wine at the side of him.

So this dish obviously means a lot to me.

Barbecuing. Not an easy thing to do on a banquet level.

How are you going to make this dish work?

The dish is barbecued salt marsh lamb,

which I'm going to sous-vide first and then to finish off,

I'm going to throw it on the barbecue.

And then I'm making an Asian ketchup

of black olives and fermented scallop roes.

Very expensive ketchup, if you don't mind my saying.

Yes, it has a really unusual and delicious flavour.

To replicate the red wine, I'm going to make a borscht,

which is essentially...

We're going to use some peashoot puree and also some lamb stock.

Excellent, indeed.

You have a great many ingredients here.

How do you make this a very elegant main course that will win?

Well, I actually think it's going to be the ketchup what does it.

I don't think you'll have tasted anything like it.

-I think I'm going to shock and wow you....

-I'll remind you of that.

-Yes.

-I look forward to this very much.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

I think Josh's dish could potentially be quite overwhelming.

It's all quite intense.

So, light and delicate does not spring to the fore.

Currently in first, Danny is hoping his dish, A Sign Of Wealth,

will keep him in pole position.

Morning, Danny. How are you?

Still ahead.

-Just.

-Advantage Danny.

-Only just.

-So, what is the dish?

I'm going to do pork, pineapple, onion

and hickory smoked barbecue sauce.

The whole inspiration behind this comes from the trophy at Wimbledon

for the Men's Single Championship.

Right on the top, there's a little miniature pineapple.

Indeed there is.

In Victorian times, when Wimbledon started,

a pineapple was a sign of wealth.

The dish itself, I've based it around the pineapple,

which I'm going to salt bake.

We've got some lovely suckling pig.

I'm going to cook that in a water bath

before I caramelise the outside in a nice hot pan.

I've got the shoulder of the suckling pig,

then I'm going to finish that into a barbecue pulled-pork situation.

Make my own barbecue sauce to go with it.

What goes into your barbecue sauce?

I've got cola, I've got Worcestershire sauce.

-Cola? Good old-fashioned tsch?

-Yeah.

What's in this bowl here?

This stuff here is gravy granules.

-I'm sorry?

-I've found, when I make this barbecue sauce,

the best way to thicken it up is with gravy granules.

Bold moves indeed.

Gravy granules and cola.

I wish you a ham and pineapple the best of luck.

-Look forward to it.

-Thank you.

-Take care.

What an amazing production.

As usual, I expect fireworks and glamour and outrage.

And then gravy granules.

What a HUGE surprise.

Quite took the wind out of my sails.

Trailing Danny by just one point,

former banquet champion Tommy Banks

scored a nine for his fish dish.

But he's hoping to go one better with his main.

Tommy, good morning.

-How are you?

-Yeah, very well, thank you.

The actual name of your dish?

It's Champions' Guard Of Honour.

I'm roasting this big rack of lamb.

When you win Wimbledon, create the guard of honour,

corridor of ball boys...

-Of course.

-..and the champion walks down.

So I'm going to roast both racks and then put them together.

-Brilliant.

-To create a guard of honour.

And you're not succumbing to the sous-vide way of thinking?

There's only one way to cook lamb, really,

and that's high heat in the oven,

and you can't do a traditional dish like a guard of honour

and then put it in a boil-in-the-bag, can I?

HE LAUGHS

But I see you've also got little turnips and potatoes,

which is quite traditional.

Yes, these are fermented turnips.

I'm making a lovely puree out of those.

Lovely Pink Fir Apple potatoes. I grew these and brought them down.

I'm going to cook them in the suet from the lamb.

-Oh, wow.

-Delicious. Yeah.

Have you got any worries and concerns?

I'm roasting a large piece of meat in the oven,

and I don't know how it's cooked until we get to the pass.

I'm going to carve it there.

I look forward to tasting this very, very, very much indeed.

Thank you.

I think, with Tommy's lamb,

it's a delight to see lamb being crusted and properly roasted.

The one concern, possibly, being that it might be rather rich,

and possibly too heavy.

With the scores so close, each chef is aiming for perfection.

There's a hell of a lot of work for me to do today.

Your dishes both sound fantastic.

My grandad meant a lot to me and I really want to do him proud

and do a really summery barbecue dish.

When you have that emotional attachment to your cooking,

-it really brings the best out of you.

-Yeah.

Danny might be in the lead,

but he's taking a risk today, with his dish A Sign Of Wealth.

He's making suckling pig two ways.

A side dish of American-style pulled pork

and a rack of ribs which he's cooking sous vide

in the hope of keeping the meat tender.

So you're both sous vide-ing, water-bathing.

But do you think it brings as much sort of flavour

as a traditional roasting?

It certainly, for me, cooking the suckling pork loin there,

it's a really delicate piece of meat.

I think you need to be really careful

with something like oven roasting it or barbecueing it.

You're not going to do it justice.

Next, Danny moves on to his American-style barbecue sauce,

which uses a number of unusual ingredients,

including one that surprised Jeremy the most.

Gravy granules.

Maybe I shouldn't be using it, to be honest.

When you're making something like an American-style barbecue sauce,

it wants to be authentic.

So you're doing an American-style barbecue.

-Yeah.

-Essentially. OK.

-TOMMY:

-For the Great British Menu.

Having got eights for his first two courses,

Josh is determined to score higher today

with his family-inspired barbecued lamb dish.

He starts by preparing his lamb rump,

which he infuses with garlic and rosemary

in a VacPack, before placing in a water-bath.

Next, he moves on to his savoury ketchup,

using fermented scallop roe and squid ink.

But there is a risk the strong flavours could overpower the lamb.

This murky brew.

Yes. This is the ketchup.

-May I?

-Yes, absolutely, yeah.

Are you happy with the result?

I'm extremely happy with this, yeah.

If one was to say it has the potential

to have a kick like a mule, you would say...

I like a little bit of spice in my life, so...

HE LAUGHS

Like Josh, Tommy is also cooking lamb for his dish,

Champions' Guard Of Honour.

But unlike Josh, he's cooking his in the oven.

Not a lot of time to cook that lamb rack.

No. I'm not going to know how this is cooked

-until we're all stood there on the pass and...

-Yeah.

Zero or hero moment, isn't it?

Before roasting, Tommy seasons his lamb rack and seals in a pan.

But as reigning banquet champion, he's feeling the pressure.

If I don't cook the lamb right, then the dish is a failure.

I've lost half the hairs on my hand

just trying to get lots of pressure on that skin.

-Yeah.

-Make it nice and crispy.

-Yeah.

-I'm covered in lamb fat.

I'm quite happy, though.

Next, Tommy works on the refined accompaniments

which he hopes will elevate his dish,

beginning with his turnip puree.

-Hello.

-How are you doing?

Sweat on the brow.

Yeah, I'm... I'm really busy.

-And what's this?

-This is fermented turnip puree.

-May I try it?

-Yes, sure.

Fermented turnips, butter and cream.

Simple as that.

Quite... Ooh!

Ooh.

Really? Smug.

I look forward to tasting it.

Thank you, Jeremy.

Danny's moved on to the pineapple element of his dish,

a tribute to the fruit on the top of the Men's Singles trophy.

He covers his pineapple in a salt crust

and places in the oven to bake.

I'd actually never noticed the pineapple on top of the trophy.

No, neither have I.

And when you were putting those pineapple socks on this morning,

as well, I was wondering what that was bringing.

The pineapple socks, I'm trying to hit the brief as much as I can.

To find out more about the trophy which inspired his dish,

Danny travelled to the All-England Lawn Tennis Club,

home of the Wimbledon Championships,

where he was given unique behind-the-scenes access

by Wimbledon's Master of Ceremonies, Dan Bloxham.

-Nice to meet you.

-All right?

-Welcome to the All-England Club.

Here we are, it's the Challenge Trophy

which is awarded to the winners every year.

Looks incredible.

It's almost got an aura about it.

Do the players get to take it home or...?

I think they'd like to.

This one, we keep, and the players have a replica,

-so they get...

-Something to take home.

-Absolutely, yeah.

-As Master of Ceremonies,

it's Dan's responsibility to look after the players

throughout the Wimbledon Men's Final.

My job is to bring the players on the two-minute-30 walk,

past all the history and the pictures of other players, to here.

They come through, past the trophies,

and then we go out onto Centre Court.

It's just amazing to see it actually in real life.

It's theatre and it's drama and it's history all rolled into one.

It's special.

As soon as the match is over,

Dan must organise the winner's presentation,

personally delivering the world-famous trophy to Centre Court.

Once a player wins match point,

we've got probably the amount of time it takes

the player to walk around

and maybe wave to the crowd, so we've got a minute and a half,

something like that. I'll take the trophy, the Runners-Up Salver,

which is like a plate, and the umpire's medal onto the court.

It's maybe, I don't know, 25 steps,

but they're a very, very tricky 25 steps.

-Long steps.

-Long steps.

Unbelievable. That must be so nerve-racking for you.

I don't entertain the thought about, "What if you drop it?"

It feels very exciting now.

I feel really honoured and privileged to be the guy

that takes the trophy onto court. It's a really, really amazing thing.

Such an amazing venue.

I think, to be able to get my main course here with the pineapple on,

I feel like that would be absolutely amazing.

Back in the kitchen, Danny's taken his salt-baked pineapple

out of the oven.

You'd have been a fine archaeologist.

So is that your barbecue sauce there?

It is, yeah. The one with all them wonderful ingredients in.

Wow.

Happy with how that's come out?

Yeah, over the moon. Really happy with that.

It's maybe just a touch spicy on your palate right now.

-Slightly.

-When you mix it with the pork and the pork fat,

it's going to mellow that out a little bit.

On its own, it's a little bit spicy.

-Good luck with it.

-Cheers.

Josh has moved on to his borscht,

an Eastern European beetroot soup which can be served hot or cold.

His version features lamb stock and represents the wine

his grandfather used to enjoy at family barbecues.

He's also making two other beetroot elements,

a beetroot puree and beetroot salad.

This dish is really, really important to me that I do well.

So a lot's on the line for me.

Next, he places his water-bathed lamb on a barbecue,

which will need to rest before plating.

Hey, Josh, what's your dish called?

Shouldn't you have a glass of wine with that?

I wish I had one right now.

Phew, it's hot.

Tommy has moved on to the second of his two lamb elements,

using a cut called Jacob's Ladder, which he browns in a pan.

His lamb rack is still roasting in the oven,

but he won't discover how well it's cooked

until he carves it at the pass.

I'm really nervous. It'll either be raw, perfect or knackered.

I can cook lamb. I cook lamb every day, but not today.

With plate-up approaching,

Danny's moved on to his caramelised onion puree.

It's one of six accompaniments he'll serve alongside his pork loin,

which he's browning in a pan.

How's the cooking of the pork going?

It's going really well.

Lovely flavours, lovely smell.

Lovely.

Tommy is first to the pass

with his lamb, potatoes and turnip dish,

Champions' Guard Of Honour,

in celebration of the ceremonial line-up given to Wimbledon winners.

Hey, Tommy, you're making a racket over there.

This is what I'm going to serve my Guard Of Honour on.

Like a carving board to serve it on.

-Really?

-But obviously, bish, bash, bosh.

He takes his lamb rack out of the oven, hoping it's cooked through,

then fries in a pan to add colour and leaves to rest.

That's all flavour, that.

Next, he finishes his lamb-fat roasted potatoes.

Hey, Tommy, them potatoes look a bit different.

-What's on them?

-Coated them in smoked butter breadcrumbs.

Some are soggy, some are crisp.

They are just, like, really naughty.

He adds caramelised chocolate mint leaves and pickled turnip discs.

Then fermented turnip puree...

..his lamb Jacob's Ladder...

..and mint gel.

Next, Tommy checks on his rack of lamb.

How's that lamb looking, Tommy?

It looks overcooked on the outside, so...

-Yeah.

-It's the middle I'm worried about.

Tommy places the lamb rack on the presentation chopping board.

Finally, he pours lamb sauce into jugs.

OK, I'm ready.

So, would you like to do the honours?

HE EXHALES

Are you happy with how you've cooked this?

Yeah, that's a great relief.

I'm very happy with the cooking of that.

Well, without further ado, then, shall we?

Mm. Please.

-Do you like it?

-Yeah. I want that big flavour.

I want it to be really special as a main event.

That lamb rack, absolutely delicious.

The potatoes. Is this how you wanted them to be?

Yeah. I coated them in the breadcrumbs.

It sort of sticks the fat to them.

You can hear the crunch when you eat it.

The potatoes themselves are absolutely fantastic.

Your fermented turnip puree.

How did you get it so light and bright?

There's quite a lot of cream in it, actually.

Thought we'd get the truth out eventually.

Yeah, that's beautiful. Nice, acidic flavours coming through.

It's cut through all that lamb flavour.

-What would you give it?

-A nine would be good.

Might keep me up there with the boys.

10 out of 10, it's incredible.

For me, I'm going to score it a nine.

-I'm a little bit nervous now.

-Yeah.

How's it going, guys?

What did Jeremy think?

He ate a bit more of it than he's eaten most things.

So, yeah, I think he enjoyed it.

Next to the pass is Josh,

with his barbecued lamb dish inspired by his late grandfather,

Grandad On The Barbecue, Drinking Red Wine.

He begins by plating beetroot puree,

then a sprinkle of powdered beetroot...

..roasted yellow and red beetroot...

..and blow-torched teardrop peppers.

Next, he slices his barbecued lamb rump.

How's that lamb looking, Josh?

Yeah, I'm quite happy with it, actually.

I was a little bit worried about it.

What were you worried about?

Just that I didn't have enough time to rest it.

Yeah, it's come out really nice.

Josh plates the lamb rump

and adds raw candied beetroot discs and beetroot leaves.

He pours his hot lamb borscht into a decanter

to represent his grandad's glass of red wine.

Next, his savoury ketchup.

You all right over there?

You look like you're shaking a little bit.

I'm really shaking.

Josh finishes with a glass cloche, which he fills with smoke.

What's the flavour of the smoke, Josh?

Cabernet Sauvignon wood barrels.

Right, ready. Would you mind giving me a hand, Tommy?

Wow! What extraordinary presentation!

Thank you. Definitely the hardest dish I've done so far,

but I'm pretty proud of it, I think.

In that case, without further ado, can we?

The smoke is Cabernet Sauvignon chips.

This is not Cabernet Sauvignon wine.

No, unfortunately not.

It's a lamb borscht.

I think it goes with the dish.

You know, you've got the beetroots on the plate,

you've got the beetroots in the glass,

it's not going to taste bad together.

It kind of reminds me of that beef tea

you might have when you go to the football.

Yeah, yeah, on a cold day, though.

Are you pleased with how the lamb has cooked?

Yeah, absolutely.

I think the flavour of the garlic and rosemary balances the lamb out.

I'm not 100% sold on the way he's cooked that lamb.

-That's quite acrid when you get that really black.

-Yeah.

So the ketchup.

These are very interesting but quite dark flavours, aren't they?

Almost mysterious.

I wanted the squid ink in there just to give it a really seafood flavour

just to counteract the salt marsh lamb.

The ketchup's got a weird taste.

It's got a little bit of fish in.

Personally, I wouldn't maybe put that with lamb.

Out of 10, what would you award it?

I think it's unusual.

I don't think anyone else is going to cook like this

in the competition, so I'd like to score it a nine.

Now, then, guys.

Hey, well done, well done.

Thank you. Pretty happy, yeah.

What do you think Jeremy thought?

I think he quite liked it, actually.

Yeah.

Danny is last to plate his dish, A Sign Of Wealth,

a barbecued suckling pig and pineapple dish

in tribute to the pineapple on top of the Men's Singles trophy.

Danny starts by plating caramelised brown onion puree.

Just going to pop some fresh chives on.

Next, he adds spring onions, before carving his suckling pork loin.

It's nice and juicy.

Crispy on the outside.

-It does look good.

-Yeah, looks really nice, Danny.

He adds the pork loin to the plate,

then salt-baked charred pineapple chunks and pineapple gel.

Next, pickled silver-skin onions

and sliced radish followed by caramelised onions.

He fills golden pineapples with his pulled pork

marinated in his barbecue sauce.

-Bit of bling, Danny.

-Yeah.

Everyone loves a bit of bling in their life.

Danny finishes the plates with pork sauce.

One of you gives me a hand with my pineapples, please?

Don't drop my bling.

What's this extraordinary carry-on here?

I just wanted it to be a little nod to everyone at Wimbledon

to show them just how special Wimbledon is.

Right, let's go and taste this.

And within the pineapple... Da-da!

..is barbecued pork.

Why are you putting it in here and not on the plate, out of interest?

Something to talk about. We don't want a boring main course.

You can call it many things, but boring is not one of them.

Some pulled pork.

That's where the barbecue sauce comes in.

It's very sweet, isn't it?

-Quite spicy at the end.

-Yeah.

-I like it.

The barbecue sauce that we tried earlier,

the face you pulled did have me a little bit scared,

but that's a lot more mellow now.

The loin of pork, what a real treat.

I'm feeling really happy with that.

It's lovely and tender.

-JOSH:

-I think the pork is absolutely delicious.

So succulent, really good crackling.

Yeah. It's very well cooked.

On the plate with the loin of pork,

there's a delicacy and there's a balance.

And then there's this furiously marinated barbecued pork.

I'm still trying to get my head round why the two together.

When I think of summertime, I obviously think of a barbecue.

The barbecue sauce goes fantastically well

-with the pineapple.

-Uh-huh.

I didn't get really where this pulled shoulder fits into that.

If you eat that with the delicate suckling pig,

that definitely overpowers it, in my book.

What would you give it out of ten, do you think?

I'm going to say an eight and hope for a nine.

Hey.

How do.

Wow. That was intense.

I feel quite nervous right now.

I really need a big score to secure my place for Friday.

No, I'm in exactly the same boat as you.

If I don't get a high score, that puts me at risk of going home.

I don't want to go home.

So, that's the main course done.

There must be a sense, slightly, of relief.

-Not quite.

-Moving on, then, very swiftly.

Josh, your dish.

I thought your barbecued lamb

was beautifully cooked,

and you definitely succeeded

in achieving those smoky barbecue flavours.

I really enjoyed all the beetroot elements,

and the lamb borscht was absolutely delicious.

However...

..the whole dish was very, very dark in terms of flavours.

And I'm not sure the mix of scallop and squid ink

really benefited the sauce.

Danny. Your dish.

I loved the restraint of the presentation

on the plate.

The suckling pig really worked.

I thought you pulled that off brilliantly.

And the whole dish on the plate ate incredibly well.

However...

..once you got to the golden pineapple,

things went slightly awry.

The pulled pork was delicious, but the savage amount of ketchup,

spice and sugar made many of the other ingredients redundant,

including the contentious gravy granules.

Tommy.

Your dish.

I wasn't sure about

serving the lamb on a tennis racket.

I'm not a fan of gimmicks.

But...

..I thought this dish was excellent.

There was no gadgetry, no fancy techniques to hide behind,

just very fine, honest cooking.

And the lamb was beautifully cooked.

A real treat.

So, then, to the scores.

Josh. I'm giving you...

..a score of eight.

Danny.

I'm giving you...

..a score of eight.

Finally, Tommy...

I'm giving you...

..a score of...

..ten.

-Thank you very much.

-This was a beautiful dish.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you very much.

It's pudding next, and I really have no idea who is going to triumph.

Good luck.

Cheers, guys.

Thank you.

Feels amazing to be top of the leaderboard now.

It's only one point, but, God, it feels better than being last.

Tommy has taken the lead from Danny with 26 points,

leaving him on 25, and Josh just one point behind on 24.

Consistently getting eights through the competition.

The fact that we're still two points within each other

is great for me because it still means that I can go through.

I don't think I've ever been in something so closely contested.

If I'm the person going home, I'm going to be devastated.

I really want to be there on Friday. This is really tight.

It's nerve-racking now.

I think I've aged.