Scotland Fish Great British Menu

This year on Great British Menu...

Ooh!

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

The old gloves are off now, aren't they, eh?

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

The pressure's on.

I'm going to flip out!

..celebrating 140 years of the iconic Wimbledon Championships,

the oldest and most prestigious tennis tournament in the world.

CHEERING

This week, battling to represent Scotland in the national finals,

returning finalist Michael Bremner,

who took the lead yesterday with his ambitious starter.

It looks absolutely beautiful.

Fellow returner Ally McGrath, who lost out to Michael last year,

and is determined not to let his old rival beat him again.

It's not made it easier, coming back.

And newcomer Angela Malik,

who impressed with the flavours of her starter,

but failed with her sloppy presentation.

Unfortunately didn't get quite the look that I wanted.

Today, they're cooking the fish course.

Having you standing there, making me even more nervous...

And with Michael just one point ahead of his rivals...

Don't panic, I'll let you know when I'm going down, yeah?

..which chef will come out on top?

POP, FIZZING

-Holy

-BLEEP,

-man!

Celebrating already, chef?!

To make it through to Friday's regional final,

each chef must produce outstanding dishes in tribute to Wimbledon

that celebrate a taste of summer.

After the starter course,

Michael is in the lead with eight points,

and is hoping to repeat the success of last year,

when his fish course scored a perfect ten.

Ally and Angela are neck and neck on seven points.

So, how did you find yesterday?

Yesterday was tough, the pressure was phenomenal.

So fish course today,

I think it's one of my stronger dishes that I'm doing.

-I'm quite nervous.

-Hopefully, after my year last year -

I got a ten for my fish course -

I can stay on the same path... fingers crossed.

Judging whether their dishes meet the excellence required

for the Wimbledon banquet is renowned seafood chef Nathan Outlaw.

Four stars, it's scary.

Yeah, it's very scary.

He'll notice everything, anything slightly wrong.

-Hi, guys, all right?

-Chef.

-Good.

How's everyone feeling?

Aargh.

-Nervous.

-Excited.

A bit of both.

So, as you know, Wimbledon's got ridiculously high standards.

I've got high standards, especially today with the fish course.

Do your best.

Don't look too nervous!

I think it's about time you started doing some cooking.

I am a seafood chef,

so today I'm really expecting some big things from them.

I'm not going to let them get away with anything.

I'm expecting perfection.

In the lead is Michael.

He's hoping to repeat last year's perfect score for his fish course

with his dish Traditions Of White,

paying tribute to the strict white dress code at Wimbledon.

That's a lovely turbot you've got there, Michael.

-Yeah, it's a beauty.

-What are you going to do with this?

Well, I've got a two-layered dish,

so I'm kind of replicating a court, in loose sort of terms.

-OK, yeah.

-More sort of colours, textures of green.

-Yeah.

-I'm going to be doing some crispy kale, a hard crisp...

-Yeah, OK.

-And I've got an almond puree

that I'll be using to represent the two tennis players.

And then some of this fella, which, you know,

-he's a...

-A lovely fish.

-He's a beauty, yeah.

-Yeah.

How are you going to cook that, then?

I'm going to cook it in the water bath.

I'm not going to be pan frying it,

so it's just going to be brined, and then poached at 54 degrees.

OK, so it's something you usually do,

-you usually poach the fish in sous vide?

-No, it's quite new for me.

-Yeah.

-I normally pan-fry it.

-It's not one of my favourites, I must say.

-Oh!

THEY LAUGH

Sweet.

Michael's got a beautiful turbot -

that's ten out of ten, that fish, just on its own -

so what I'd hate to see is for him to take that beautiful fish

and then do something disastrous with it.

Angela is currently in second place,

having been criticised for the presentation of her starter.

She's aiming to score higher today

with her dish Andy's Plate, a tribute to Andy Murray.

-Hi, Angela, you all right? How are you?

-Hello, chef.

So what dish are you doing?

Well, I read that Andy Murray is a big fan of sushi.

-Right, OK.

-And sashimi. It's the food of champions.

He apparently eats 40 to 50 pieces post match.

-50?

-Apparently.

I'm basically just going to be cutting out the back fillet

of this beautiful sea trout.

-Right.

-Put it into a fantastic marinade and cut it into cubes.

So obviously with something like this, you're looking for precision,

-sashimi, yeah?

-Yeah, sashimi is precision.

Sashimi takes a lot of practice and a lot of skill.

I'm not going to pretend that I'm a sashimi chef.

-Right, OK.

-And it's an homage to having a barbecue at the seaside.

-OK.

-I'm going to make a miso sand, along with a seaweed salad.

What's the biggest challenge you've got here?

The barbecue. The langoustine are going to be cooked at the table.

Right, so if you got this through,

they're going to be cooking their own food?

-Yes.

-Right.

I'm intrigued to see how it's all going to work out.

-Thank you, hope you like it.

-Good luck.

'Angela's preparing sashimi,

'which is something that you really can't muck around with.'

Precision on the preparing, no bones, no scales,

lovely even slices, that's what I'll be looking for.

Returning chef Ally is in joint second place.

He's hoping to take the lead today

with his fish dish Messing About In The River,

inspired by personal summer memories.

How are you doing, Ally, you all right?

-You good?

-Very well, chef, very well.

So what's your dish?

My hometown is Peebles,

-and we've got the River Tweed running through it.

-Yeah.

So in the summer, hot days very rare in Scotland,

but hot days you end up up the river,

messing about, from that high to teenager.

The Tweed's famed for its trout and its salmon and its sea trout,

so I'm going to use some trout

and I'm going to use it with smoked sea trout.

What else you got? Tomatoes?

So we've got green tomatoes, I'm going to make a green tomato jelly.

-OK, yeah.

-Which, in this heat...

Yes.

Slightly regretting!

But, you know...

And then we're going to do a little bit of pickled cucumber

-and all the rest of it.

-OK.

-And I'm going to do a dill sponge with it,

-so I'm kind of going...

-Dill sponge - how do you make that?

I'm going to use my favourite piece of equipment, chef - the microwave.

Right...

So...it'll look a bit kind of like a rock pool.

-Yeah.

-I did try and...

Is that what you're aiming for, sort of?

It is that kind of effect. I'm also making apple pebbles.

-Right, OK.

-I'm going to make a meringue - apple juice meringue -

a bit of squid ink to give it that sort of colour,

and then dehydrate them.

What are you actually going to do

with the two different types of trout?

I'm going to brine it quite lightly

and then I'm going to cook it at 40 degrees, just to...

-You're going to use a water bath, as well?

-Yeah, I believe you're...

You're not using the microwave for the fish?

Oooh...!

No, I hope not!

When Ally explained the dish to me I thought,

it's not a desert course, mate, this is the fish course.

Because he's got meringues on there

and he's got sort of the sponge on there,

so I'm quite intrigued to see how he brings the whole thing together.

So, the fish course,

in the same sort of comparison to what Wimbledon is,

it's all about perfection, it's all about precision.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

You guys feeling the same?

There's nowhere to hide with the fish, is there?

-Not when Nathan Outlaw's judging you, no!

-Yeah.

Last year, Michael's fish dish moved veteran judge Daniel Clifford

to tears and nearly got him to the banquet.

This year he's hoping to go all the way with his ambitious turbot dish,

Traditions Of White,

representing players dressed in white on a Wimbledon court.

You all right there, Michael?

With my dish, there's quite a few complicated things to get done...

..so there's loads of room for error.

Yeah, it's a little bit terrifying.

To keep his fish white, Michael poaches his turbot in a water bath.

Next, he makes a white-coloured sauce

by combining mashed potatoes with sparkling white wine.

POP, FIZZING

-Holy

-BLEEP,

-man!

-Chef, chef.

-That was my fault.

Chef, chef, put your pot over there, chef.

-Let's not make a big deal out of it.

-LAUGHTER

Celebrating already, chef?!

-Celebrating already.

-Got in the bag?

Michael's competitors are both one point behind him,

but each are hoping to catch him

with their very different takes on trout.

So, Ally, I'm using sea trout, you're using sea trout.

It's a beautiful fish, it's very light and delicate.

-Yes.

-And it's very summery.

And it's such a beautiful flavour.

Mine's smoked this time, so looking forward to trying yours.

Angela is serving her trout as sashimi -

raw fish that's sliced so precisely,

it's normally only attempted by specially trained sushi chefs.

-How you doing, Angela, all right?

-Hello, chef.

-This something you do a lot of?

-No, not at all.

So having you standing there... making me even more nervous!

It's quite a challenging thing, isn't it?

Even something so simple as sliced fish.

You've got... You know, it's got to look neat, it's got to look tidy.

Yeah, absolutely.

So it's got to be a very beautiful, rectangular piece of trout.

-Yeah. I'll let you get on with it.

-Thank you.

For his trout dish, Messing About In The River,

Ally is cooking eight technical elements,

in the hope of recreating a rock pool.

He's preparing trout in two ways -

poaching a fillet,

and making a smoked trout mousse,

which will go in the centre of his apple meringue pebbles.

Do you fish yourself?

No. No, I used to, when I was younger,

but it wasn't my best pastime.

So I guess you prefer cooking it rather than catching it?

Very much so.

Ally's dish uses River Tweed summer sea trout,

which can only be caught in the months between May and September

when the fish come to spawn upriver.

He's travelled to the town of Berwick on the Scottish Borders,

to join professional fishermen Michael Hindhaugh.

-Morning.

-Good morning.

-I'm Michael.

-Michael, I'm Ally, pleased to meet you.

Pleased to meet you, Ally.

Michael runs the only commercial sea trout fishery left on the river.

The fishing industry has been a massive part of Berwick's heritage

and history. This particular bit has had fishing on it for

-over 900 years.

-Oh, wow.

At one stage there would be 600 or 700 people from the town

-employed within the industry.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Wow.

Every summer, he and his colleagues take to the water

in the hope of catching this delicate fish.

Other than with a rod and line,

the only legal way to catch sea trout on the Tweed

is by an ancient method called net and coble,

which dates back from the 12th century.

-So we're going to have a go at this today, aren't we?

-Yep, yep.

It's wild fish, we don't know if they run in the river.

Well, sounds pretty much like my fishing career anyway, so...

-Good. Well, I'm game if you're game.

-Yeah, yeah, let's give it a shot.

Right, let's go.

The practice involves a small boat - or coble -

rowing in a semicircle whilst trailing a net,

which is being held at one end.

We'll pull it in and see if you've caught anything.

The net is then hauled in,

bringing with it any fish which have been caught in the middle.

One of the boys caught a sea trout.

I believe you're doing sea trout on your menu.

-Yeah, yeah, it's part of the menu.

-And basically,

that's got a bit of colour about him.

Sea trout, it's a summer fish - that's when it's at its best,

that's when it should be prized.

Perfect for a summer menu.

Brilliant.

To say thank you,

Ally's brought a sample of his smoked sea trout mousse,

which he's keen for Michael to try.

-Worked up an appetite.

-Yeah, we sure have.

-That's lovely.

-Thank you very much indeed.

You could taste everything coming through there, beautiful.

-Thank you. Thank you.

-You did do it justice.

-Thank you very much.

In the kitchen,

Michael's moved on to making the potato tuille

for the centrepiece to his dish, Traditions Of White.

So, what's the aim with this potato tuille, is it to be crispy?

It's not there to be tasted,

it's very much there to be a crisp tuille,

that holds onto the textures.

So you're looking for the tuille to hold everything together?

Yeah, exactly.

-Some thin crisps have the potential to go soft.

-Yeah, definitely.

Well, I'll let you get on with it, you've got lots to do.

Thanks very much.

'He's got this crispy tuille, and lots of wet ingredients.'

Now, if that hangs around, it's going to get soggy,

and that's really his biggest danger.

Angela is making the seaside element of her dish, an edible miso sand,

which she'll use as a crunchy coating

for her barbecued langoustine.

She starts by toasting Japanese panko breadcrumbs,

which she'll combine with powdered seaweed, and Japanese bonito flakes.

So, what is this going to do to the dish?

Is it just about the textures?

Yes, adding a bit of crunch.

It's all very dry, is that going to...

-Are you worried about that?

-We've got the dipping sauce in the middle.

-Right.

-We...

dip into the dipping sauce, sprinkle on a little bit of your sand,

have a langoustine, and then you've got a dipping sauce for the sashimi

and a little bit of the seaweed salad on the side.

'From a texture point of view, it should be quite exciting.'

It's whether she's seasoned the thing properly, it's not too salty,

it's not too bland. That's the only danger she's got.

Across the kitchen,

Ally is working on the technical rock pool elements

of his Taste Of Summer starter.

To represent frogspawn, he's making a green tomato jelly,

but he's worried it won't set in the heat of the kitchen.

It's a really light jelly, so I'm really concerned.

After the mistakes on my starter, I really need it to be right.

To keep it cool, he hangs his jelly to drain in the fridge.

Next, to create the algae in the rock pool,

Ally blends a mixture of eggs, parsley and dill

to create a bright green colour.

He uses a siphon to aerate the mixture,

which he'll cook in the microwave.

-How you going, Ally, you all right?

-I'm well, chef.

-Yeah?

-Well, yeah.

-This is the dill sponge?

-This is the dill sponge.

-You're teaching me something here -

I've never seen this before, so I'm intrigued.

Oh, right. We'll give it a minute, and then we'll see how it goes.

And what are you looking from the result?

-Are you looking for a light, airy sponge?

-Yeah, yeah.

It just gives it a really brilliant green colour, as well.

-Yeah? OK.

-So...

-MICROWAVE BEEPS

Blimey, that was quick.

-Can I try a little bit of it?

-Yeah, on you go.

-As I say, it's usually...

-It's very green, look at the green.

Yeah, oh, it's an amazing green.

It also gives it, the dish, that sort of weedy kind of...

-..look.

-Rock pool.

Yeah, that look.

Well, I'm looking forward to seeing the whole thing together.

Fingers crossed, chef.

With plate-up approaching,

Michael puts his potato tuilles into the oven,

before making a white cannellini bean puree,

to represent the tennis players in their whites on his final plate.

Oh, no! What's happened?

My tuilles blew all over the place.

Oh...

So what happened there, chef?

Fan's on in the oven, so it blew them off.

-Shame, that.

-Don't panic, I'll let you know when I'm going down, yeah.

No worries.

First to plate up is Ally, with his rock pool-inspired dish,

Messing About In The River.

Ally, you've got about a minute and a half left.

Yes, Chef.

He starts with smoked sea trout mousse,

then adds poached trout fillet,

and cubes of his microwaved dill sponge to represent algae.

Next, charred cucumber slices...

..dots of lemon gel...

..salmon roe and sea fennel to look like river plants.

-Time's nearly up now, Ally.

-Yes, Chef.

Then mousse-stuffed apple meringue pebbles,

not forgetting his final element...

Ahh!

..his green tomato jelly.

Right, I'm ready.

There we go, chef.

Oh, it looks good. What do you think, guys?

-Yeah.

-It looks great.

-Beautiful.

Has everything gone to plan?

Yes, yes, chef, yeah, I'm happy with it.

-Yeah. That's a good thing, then, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Let's go and taste it.

-OK.

I love the colour combinations,

and the plate and the background is just fantastic.

-Yeah, it's a nice plate.

-Yeah, love it.

I can see, it looks... Yeah, like a rock pool.

The sponge, when I tasted it in the kitchen,

the dill was much more prominent.

I'm interested by the sponge.

Yeah.

Sadly, I think that it's absorbed up some of the moisture on this side,

making it a little bit soggy.

That trout, are you pleased with that texture?

I am, chef, it's what I was after.

It almost feels overcooked.

A little bit, yeah.

When I saw your ingredients on the bench

and saw that smoked trout there I was thinking, yeah,

that's going to just overpower everything.

Do you think it's overpowered the dish?

No, chef.

I love the texture of it, and I love the mousse in it.

For you, is the jelly set enough?

It is, chef.

It's meant to be a really light jelly.

-MICHAEL:

-Flavour-wise...

I think he's done a fantastic job.

I agree, that was delicious.

What would you give yourself out of ten for it?

An eight, maybe.

Hey! How was that? Are you happy with it?

I was, yeah. What about you guys? What did you think of it?

I loved the smoked trout mousse. I wanted more of it, though.

-It's quite light.

-If there's too much, it's...all you get.

I wasn't 100% sure about the texture of the trout.

-Uh-huh.

-But I thought the flavour was wicked.

Next up is Angela, with Andy's Plate,

reflecting the Wimbledon champion's love of sushi,

and designed to represent a summer barbecue by the sea.

She starts by plating her miso sand in a half shell

onto seaside-inspired plates,

then adds cubes of sashimi sea trout,

garnished with red radishes and rock samphire.

Angela, your time's nearly up with that.

Next, seaweed,

yellow fish roe,

edamame salad,

and a teriyaki-style dipping sauce.

Finally, she prepares her raw langoustine.

Do you want a hand with anything, Angela?

If you wouldn't mind getting the coals into the barbecue.

OK.

The langoustine will be cooked at the table on a Japanese barbecue.

OK, I'm ready, Ally.

-What do you think, boys?

-It's... It's very impressive, it looks good.

-MICHAEL:

-Yeah, it looks nice.

-OK, let's go and taste this, then, Angela.

-Yep.

-Let's go.

Practically, as a diner, how would I eat it?

The diners place the langoustines on to the very hot charcoal.

-All right.

-Let that cook for a minute or so.

-You know, I think this is a great idea.

-Yeah.

-It's interactive,

I love interactive dishes.

Let me try one of these, then.

See, that's a little bit of a problem,

the practicalities of a small little plate like that.

-Yes.

-It's going to be messy.

-Yeah, I think we need to re-look at the plate.

-Yeah.

I think there's a great taste in that.

I'm not sure if it needs the sand.

-ALLY:

-It does give it that little crunch.

They're lovely.

They're cooked just right, the flavours are really, really good.

So, the trout sashimi...

-Quite delicate.

-It is really delicate.

It's very pleasant.

Yeah.

Do you think that sea trout is refined enough?

I think the flavours are refined enough.

Presentation-wise, absolutely.

The sea trout isn't as...

precise as I see sashimi.

-What would you score it?

-I would score it an eight.

She's definitely lifted her game.

-Hi.

-Hiya, how was that for you?

Erm, not as good as the starter.

Thought there were areas that could be executed better.

We both scored it quite highly.

Yeah, I thought it was great, I thought it was much better than your

-starter.

-Shows you what we know!

-CHUCKLING

Last to plate up is Michael, with his dish Traditions Of White,

reflecting the strict Wimbledon dress code.

First he pipes cannellini bean puree onto his potato tuilles,

and dusts with parsley and spinach powder.

Next he adds watercress puree

and fried kale crisps,

to symbolise the green of the grass tennis courts.

Then almond puree to represent the players dressed in white.

Finally, he covers the bottom of the dish

with a white wine Blanc de Blancs sauce, adds his turbot...

This is the last little bit.

Look at that shake!

..and finishes with his tennis court potato tuilles.

So, this is my Traditions Of White.

-Happy, chef?

-Yeah, very happy.

Yeah? So is this going to be another ten for your fish, then, Michael?

That's your choice. I hope so, but, you know, we'll find out.

It certainly looks a ten.

Yeah, it's all about the taste, so let's go and have a taste of it,

-shall we?

-Yeah.

My first impression, it looks stunning.

It looks very impressive, absolutely beautiful.

-I think we'll try the herb crisp first.

-Yeah, the herb crisp.

It's really nice.

-I hate to do this, but I'm going to crack it straight in half.

-Yeah.

I'm looking for that crunch.

-His potato tuille has gone a bit soft.

-Mm.

Starting to go a little bit soggy there.

The fish is cooked quite nicely.

The fish is lovely.

Are you happy with the cooking?

-I am, yeah.

-Seasoning?

Yeah.

One thing I've noticed with the dish is that it's a bit fiddly to eat.

Is there anything you think you'd change?

I don't think so. It might be a bit fiddly to eat but at the end of the

day it's a fish with a sauce, and there's a garnish on top of it.

It's... You know, you get involved.

There's a lot of work in that dish.

A lot of thought that's gone into it, as well.

The tuille's going soft, that's the only thing that I think

is wrong with it.

I like it, I don't love it.

What do you think that's going to score?

I would be hoping for a high figure.

You know, I'd be over the moon with a nine.

How was that for you?

There was a few negatives, but at the end of the day,

it's all things I can work on.

Very green for a white dish...

..but I thought it was fantastic.

-Good.

-I really liked it,

but I think there's a couple of little bits that maybe let you down.

Hi, chefs.

Hello, chef.

So, Ally,

I'm going to start with you and your dish,

Messing About In The River.

I loved the story behind it,

the idea of you in rock pools in the summer.

I'm not sure it was a nice vision, but it's a good story.

Despite my reservations,

I thought the dill sponge and the apple meringues

added a nice wow factor to the dish,

and that tomato jelly was just right.

But...

..the balance of the dish didn't quite work for me.

Unfortunately, the meringues were a little bit too sweet.

This is a fish course,

and I thought the actual portion of the fish was slightly small.

Angela, your dish, Andy's Plate.

I really liked the idea of cooking the langoustine at the table.

They were really fresh.

I was very sceptical about the miso sand,

but it actually elevated something like a langoustine -

-which is great - to a whole new level.

-Thank you.

However...

..the presentation was a bit messy.

And the sashimi definitely wasn't sashimi.

For me, this was just a cube of cured trout.

Finally, Michael, your dish, Traditions Of White.

I thought the potato tuille wasn't quite crispy enough...

..and I think it should have been.

I also found the dish a little clumsy to eat.

But...this was a super dish.

Presentation was stunning.

The cooking was precise,

and very fitting for the standards of Wimbledon.

So, to the scores.

I'm going to start with you, Angela.

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

..of seven.

Thank you.

Ally.

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

..of eight.

Michael, I'm going to give you...

..a nine.

Thank you.

Well done, chefs, great cooking today.

There's not much in the scores, so the next course, main course,

I'm expecting fantastic things.

-Well done.

-ALL: Thank you.

To get a nine from Nathan Outlaw's like...

You know, wow.

With two courses down,

Michael's extended his lead and is on 17 points,

with Ally on 15 and Angela on 14.

I've definitely got Michael in my sights.

I feel that my next two courses are much stronger than my last two.

I've got my favourite course coming,

so I'll be pulling a couple of points back.

The further on we're getting,

the more I don't want to go home on Thursday.

Two points clear, happy with that?

You know yourself, two points, it's not really that much.