Scotland Judging Great British Menu

It's Judgment Day on Great British Menu

as former finalist Michael Bremner...

For me, it's all about execution.

I'm going to get it as right as I can.

..goes head-to-head with fellow returner Alan McGrath.

This is what it's all about. The pressure's quite intense.

..for the chance to represent Scotland in the national finals.

You got straight tens last year from the judges.

-Do you think you'll get straight tens again?

-I really hope so.

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 formidable panel of judges -

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

Andi Oliver, who's expecting nothing short of exceptional dishes.

Quite hard to pin one particular thing that's letting it down because

they're all just profoundly mediocre.

Having narrowly missed out in the national finals last year,

Michael's desperate to get to the banquet.

I think this year's my year.

I think you're probably close to a ten again.

Ally is cooking for the judges for the first time and also has his eyes

firmly on the prize.

I'm not just here to make up the numbers.

Hopefully they score it as well as, if not better, than Nathan did.

But only one of them can come out on top.

-Happy?

-No.

That was the stupidest idea I've ever had.

Going through to the national finals is...

Last year's regional winner, Michael Bremner,

almost made it through to the banquet.

He's had a mixed week but a perfect ten for his dessert

from veteran judge Nathan Outlaw, put him top of the leaderboard.

It's extremely important for me to be the Scottish champion again.

I feel like I've got some unfinished business to do. I'm going to push

very hard to make sure that I'm the one with

a smile on my face at the end of the day.

-Good luck.

-OK, man.

I hope it goes well for you.

-And you.

-Not too well!

HE LAUGHS

Fellow returner Ally failed to make it through

to cook for the judges last year, but has learned from his mistakes.

He's performed well throughout the week,

and now has the finals in his sights.

The judges are looking for excellence and perfection.

I've got to get everything bang on.

I'm feeling good, I want to get going, I want to get started.

This year, judges Oliver Peyton and Matthew Fort

are joined by a new member on the judging panel -

food broadcaster and restaurateur Andi Oliver,

who's expecting perfection.

To impress me, the chefs need to put their heart, their soul,

their passion on that plate.

I want to feel their personality.

Andi, you've got that smile of expectation on your face.

What are you really looking forward to?

This competition is really about the highest standards possible.

I'm really excited to see what the chefs have got to offer.

Michael's a chef of serious pedigree.

He's got fantastic skills, we know.

Of course, last time, he got a perfect ten for his fish

and he still didn't get through to the banquet.

I think he's got a very strong point to make

but I think one should not write off Ally.

I think he has a fantastically good sense of flavour.

Looking at the two menus, both very contrasting styles.

Michael's based around the traditions of Wimbledon.

Ally's seems to be relating to the summer part of the brief.

It's all about his childhood. He seems to be quite an emotional chef.

I think he'll give Michael a run for his money.

I think there's a good, well-pitched competition ahead.

First time cooking for the judges. How do you feel?

Nervous, chef, but, you know, this is what it's all about.

I found it terrifying last year. You don't know what's going on.

-Hello, chaps.

-Good morning.

-How's it all going?

Yeah, stressful, but it's good.

I think you're a man with a mission.

I think I've got a better menu.

I'm looking forward to it.

Well, Ally, good to finally meet you.

Thank you. It's great to be here.

I'm exceptionally nervous about cooking for you today.

Michael's a very competitive man.

He's not the only one! You know!

Fighting talk, I like it!

I'm not just here to make up the numbers.

Whatever it is you're focusing on, we want tip-top everything -

the best of the best of the best.

Speaking of traditions of Wimbledon...

Try to not let the nerves overwhelm you.

It's just dinner!

Exactly!

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

The judges could have a totally different look on it than what Nathan did.

-Completely different scores.

-I'm massively apprehensive about it.

Ally is first to plate up his starter, Halcyon Days,

a beetroot and ricotta salad

inspired by his childhood summers spent helping out in the garden.

It got a seven from four- Michelin-starred veteran judge Nathan Outlaw,

because the ricotta he made failed to set.

For some reason, I couldn't get it to curdle properly.

If I get it right, I should hopefully score much better points than a seven.

-Oh, ya

-BLEEP!

-Oh, would you just

-BLEEP

-stop it?!

I'm not happy with my ricotta. It's still a bit wet.

I'm going to try and get as much as I can from the edges at the top. I'm just a bit nervous.

The chefs will also be marked by a guest judge

who has first-hand knowledge of the Wimbledon Championships' exacting

standards. Gary Parsons, Wimbledon executive head chef,

who's in charge of feeding everybody at the tournament,

from the players to royalty.

Hello, Gary, how are you?

Welcome to the Great British Menu. I'm Andi. This is Oliver, Matthew.

-You're sitting here, my dear.

-Very good to see you.

So, welcome.

Your job, its scope is huge -

you're executive chef of all of the restaurants at Wimbledon?

Yeah, the whole operation.

It's the largest single sporting catering event in Europe.

And how many meals are you delivering a day?

We do 9,000 a day.

There's 38,500 people on site every day.

The people come in to see great tennis,

so we've got to deliver great food

for that person's experience of Wimbledon.

Give us the gossip. What do all these tennis players eat? Do they eat real food?

Generally lots of pasta, lots of carbs, sushi.

It's all about fuelling for their long games.

So, here at the Great British Menu we've got a banquet celebrating 140 years of Wimbledon.

What are you looking for?

I'd like to see some classic ingredients of the British larder,

modernised for the Championships.

Are you quite tough, do you think?

-Fair!

-That's what I like to think, harsh but fair.

Ally starts his Halcyon Days with spoons of beetroot bavois.

Next, the dillseed ricotta.

-How's your ricotta looking?

-I'm not happy with it.

-Not on for long enough?

-Nah. Most stupid idea I've ever had.

He adds roasted golden and micro red beetroot,

slices of pickled beetroot,

beetroot leaves, and beetroot puffs.

He tops with julienned apple, and roasted quinoa and hazelnuts

then finishes with apple puree and a blackcurrant leaf oil.

Erm...

..thank you.

First one down.

-Happy?

-No.

-Very colourful, isn't it?

-It's a dish that you're really eating with your eyes.

I didn't enjoy that.

I was having moments there.

The ricotta is really light and creamy, and quite soothing.

Ricotta, yeah, nice and creamy. I like the little addition of the apple.

I really love the balance of flavours in this dish.

Beetroot and ricotta can be a little bit pedestrian.

But he's managed to bring out lots of different flavours.

It's a beautiful, summery dish. It looks summery as it goes down.

Bang on the brief, I would say.

-Can I be a little bit controversial here?

-Yes.

Apple is not a summer fruit, it's an autumn fruit.

It's a fair point.

-But you're not going to agree with me, are you?

-But I don't care!

No, it is a fair point, but I think everything else is so bang on the brief.

Gary, do you think this dish is suitable for the immensely high standards of Wimbledon?

Yeah, I think it's very suitable.

I'd be happy to receive this at the banquet.

I've got to say, I think Ally's come here to compete.

He's going to get a very high score from me.

I think he's really laid down the gauntlet to Michael.

Michael is next to the pass, with his starter, Summer Cup Ceviche,

with Wimble-gin 22, inspired by the 22 players

who took part in the first Wimbledon, in 1877.

Veteran judge Nathan scored the dish eight points.

For me, it's all about execution.

I'm just going to get it as right as I can

and hope that they feel the same as Nathan did.

First on the plate,

watermelon infused with fennel seed and star anise,

followed by lime-infused cucumber, thinly-sliced celery,

and fermented Scotch bonnet chilli sauce.

He pipes on strawberry gel,

then adds blanched and semi-dried tomatoes.

You're keeping the onions on it, then, I see.

-I am, yeah.

-I thought it was really quite overpowering.

Gives it a bit of savouriness, you know?

There's quite a lot of sweetness in here.

Next, grapefruit segments,

avocado puree,

lime juice and elderflower dressings,

and dehydrated tomatoes.

Finally, he places his Wimble-gin 22 cocktail on ice.

Thank you very much.

-I'm happy with that.

-Looked good, well done.

Ah!

Ahhh!

That put a smile on our face!

Ooh! Pretty again.

"22 ingredients to honour each of the amateurs of 1877

"including the grass from beneath their feet."

The idea is for it to be like a fresh starter, you know?

A nice drink, fizzy, get the taste buds going.

-Ooh, blimey.

-I think he should stick to cooking,

because there's about 19 ingredients too many in there.

Quite bitter on the back flavour, isn't it?

Onion and watermelon is not something that naturally comes to

mind, and there's a reason for that.

I don't like the onion, I agree.

I like the watermelon with the cucumber

and I like this little puree here.

Strawberry gel. It does very little for me, I'm afraid.

It's got the textures. But the compressed cucumber,

the compressed watermelon, have both got similar textures.

-Slightly crunchy, yeah.

-I think this is a bunch of things on a plate.

There's no coordination of the flavours.

Would work a great deal better if it had a focus for the flavour.

It's a little vague.

I think that Michael's got to work on his game a little bit.

-Up his game.

-Up his game.

Next, it's the fish course. Ally is first to plate up his dish,

Messing About In The River,

featuring sea trout cooked two ways,

inspired by childhood summer days playing

in rock pools by the River Tweed.

Nathan scored it an eight, as the portion of trout was too small.

Are you changing anything?

I'm doing more of the smoked trout, inside the pebble,

and I'm making my trout slightly bigger.

Ally begins his rockpool scene with smoked sea trout mousse...

..then adds dill sponge,

pickled cucumber slices and

mousse-stuffed apple meringue pebbles.

Next, poached trout fillet,

tomato jelly, dill and salmon roe.

It definitely looks bigger.

Still think it looks beautiful.

He finishes with sea fennel.

Thank you.

HE EXHALES

Gosh, I hope this tastes better than it looks.

This sort of sludgy, gelatinous puddle on the right

is quite alarming to me.

I'm concerned about mine because it's quite personal.

And with a veteran you can relay that.

I can't go in there and sort of go,

"Oh, by the way, this is what it's like up the river, yeah? Smashing."

MICHAEL CHORTLES

I can see where he's going, trying to create the river effect,

but the green tomato jelly,

setting that on the bottom of the plate and building the rest of the

ingredients on top of that, that would help the appearance.

I don't like the weird sponge.

The trout mousse and the trout itself are overly salty.

I actually like the taste, I think the jelly is nice,

the mousse is lovely, it's just looks a bit off-putting,

the way it's been presented.

I don't think this is a banquet dish,

but I don't think this is a bad dish.

And I think he's quite a creative chef.

I think he's doing a lot with flavours.

There's much to be admired about this.

I think there's absolutely nothing to recommend this dish whatsoever.

So that's a thumbs down from you, then(!)

Next up is Michael, with his fish course, Traditions Of White,

inspired by the strict Wimbledon dress code.

Nathan docked it just one point, as his potato tuiles weren't crisp.

You got straight tens from the judges last year.

Do you think you'll get straight tens again?

I really hope so. I got a nine off of Nathan Outlaw,

-which, for me, is an incredible score...

-Very much so.

..from, like, the master of fish.

He starts by piping cannellini bean puree onto potato tuiles.

Then dusts with parsley and spinach powder.

Are your tuiles crispy enough this time?

Spot-on, I think.

Next, he dots with watercress puree,

and adds herb crisps.

-I've got the shakes.

-That's good(!)

It's so nerve-racking, isn't it? The pressure's quite intense.

The pressure is tense.

The tuile is completed with kale crisps, chervil, and almond puree,

to represent the players on the court.

Into the dish goes blanc de blanc sauce topped with fillets of turbot.

And finally, his tuiles.

Thank you very much.

-Happy with that?

-I am happy with that.

It was hard, though, you know the nerves and, like,

just trying to get it right.

I'm never keen when there's more plate than food.

-Come on.

-It looks beautiful. It looks like a piece of art.

I can't wait to find what's underneath.

It looked amazing. I think you're probably close to a ten again.

Fingers crossed. Fingers crossed.

No, no! Fingers crossed for me.

I think the potato tuile is absolutely magnificent.

It's incredibly fine, it's got a really crisp texture to it.

I like the idea of still having a potato

and a vegetable with the dish, but in a different disguise.

I think that's very clever.

Fish is beautiful.

Fish is perfectly cooked.

I think the dish is amazing but I think there's a bitterness in here that is overwhelming the dish.

I think it's the almond puree.

I'd like a different plate, actually. The plate's getting on my nerves.

If you look at it from above,

it's Centre Court, and you've got the courts.

-Oh!

-This is the arena around, and then in the middle?

-It's the court.

-Do you know, I never thought of that!

THEY LAUGH

Thank heavens we've got an expert here.

I think the key thing here is,

after Ally's strong start at least this puts Michael back in the game.

-We all think this is a really good dish.

-Yeah.

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

We had a morning of very contrasting styles,

but I do think we have at least one potential banquet dish.

-I think we've got two.

-I agree with two.

I really think it's impossible to call.

Looks as if it's going to be a really interesting afternoon.

So what do you think is happening in the judging chamber at the moment?

Maybe having a wee snooze.

It's quite a lot of food they've had so far.

For the main course, Michael is first to the pass, with his dish,

The Grass Is Greener,

which uses the same type of turf that's played on at Wimbledon.

Veteran judge Nathan gave it a six -

Michael's lowest score of the week.

He didn't think the dish was summery enough,

and the ravioli and meat were both undercooked.

He basically hated that dish, didn't he? Let's face facts.

So I am amending everything.

I'm going to change some of the vegetables.

I'm going to add in some pickled cauliflower, pickled courgettes, just to lighten it up a bit.

Uh-huh.

He fries and glazes slow-cooked ox tongue.

Have you cooked it the same way?

I haven't, no, I've cooked it in the water bath.

-Why have you done that?

-Just to make it more tender.

First on the plate goes parsley puree and grass-infused potatoes.

He adds the ox tongue, radishes and pickled red onion.

Just to add a bit of freshness.

Next, pickled courgettes and broad beans.

Then, jus-filled ravioli.

Pickled cauliflower, wheatgrass oil

and finally, pickled peas.

Over to you.

Thank you, thank you.

Just as is, thank you very much.

I'm sweating!

This is a good-looking dish.

Ah, honestly, the perfume!

That is absolutely... Excuse me.

-You're so excited.

-I am, I am.

It's not my strongest dish,

I am expecting not as good a score as you are for it.

-It looked a lot better than it did the other day.

-Yeah.

When you pierce the ravioli, the sauce just oozes out.

Oh, look at that! That's so sexy.

It is. It's got this lovely shine to it, it seduces you into pleasure.

I think it's wonderful.

That is top-drawer cooking.

It's extremely elegant. The tongue is so well cooked.

The crunch of the little courgettes.

And the broad bean,

against the rich, dense, intense meat is incredible.

Do we think it's a bit heavy?

I was thinking about that. Actually, I think it's OK.

You think, slow-cooked ox tongue, you think, wintry.

But, the way he's actually presented it, it's light.

And those vegetables pick it back up from being wintry.

It's soothing.

-I could eat this on a hot day.

-Yeah, yeah. It's very good.

He's a championship player, isn't he?

Definitely. He serves a big ace!

LAUGHTER

Next to plate up is Ally with his main, Cooking On Coals,

inspired by the smells and theatre of a summer barbecue.

Nathan said it was inventive

and perfectly cooked, with balanced flavours,

Giving it a nine.

How's your chicken dish going over there?

I'm a little bit concerned about time.

He starts by frying chicken breasts and thighs in butter,

to crisp the skin.

First onto the plate goes Parmesan and truffle custard,

Topped with grated black truffle.

Next, charred little gem lettuce,

broccoli and sugar snap peas

garnished with fried girolles and crispy pancetta.

All the veg are exactly the same that you were doing before?

I've not charred my broccoli this time,

just to try and keep it a bit brighter and greener.

Then rolled ballotine of chicken thigh

and pancetta sauce served on the side.

He places potato coals in a barbecue-style dish,

and tops with the chicken breasts.

Thank you.

I think you smashed it.

I'm never doing this again!

MICHAEL LAUGHS

Ooh! Ah, clouds of smoke.

I do love a barbecue. Look at that. Oh!

It's a good-looking dish too.

Let's get this on the plates. What about the little tatties?

Oh, they're potatoes, I thought they were something else.

Hopefully they score it as well as, if not better, than Nathan did.

These blackened potatoes are interesting to look at.

They look like coal, don't they?

Actually, they're rather good.

I quite like the vegetables, actually,

the little bit of pickled little gems. Very nice.

I don't like the chicken very much.

I'd question, is chicken up there with a prime sort of cut that would be fit for the banquet?

The problem with this dish is it's just not good enough.

If you're going to turn up in a competition like this

with chicken, it needs to be world-class chicken,

and it needs to be cooked in a way where you go,

"Wow, I've never eaten chicken like that before",

as we did with the tongue.

What's interesting, actually, it's quite hard to pin

one particular thing that's letting it down,

because they're all just profoundly mediocre.

It's a sequence of bleurghs.

Next, it's the dessert course and the chefs' last chance to impress.

First to plate up is Michael, with his dish,

Bananas About Murray,

a nod to the Scottish champion and the thousands of kilos of bananas

consumed by players at Wimbledon.

It earned him his highest score of the week.

This is your perfect ten dish this time, chef, do you think?

Everything's in place for it to do it again?

-Yeah, I believe so.

-It is nice, I grudgingly have to admit that.

First he plates yoghurt sponge,

followed by passion fruit curd and pressure-cooked banana.

I do feel a lot more nervous plating this up, though.

Are you shaking as much as you were earlier?

HE GIGGLES FAINTLY

He adds roasted pecans and yoghurt sorbet,

then a pecan and maple tuile

and finally, yoghurt crisp.

That just fell.

Sabotage!

Thank you very much.

I love this gold bowl, I have to say.

All I'm seeing is brown and beige, really, much as I like the bowl.

I really love that dish, you know?

That dish is about Andy Murray and it's my little nod to him.

-These tuiles are quite beautiful. Beautiful work.

-Yeah.

The sponge tastes a lot better than it looks. It's quite buttery.

It's a bit dense, I think, that's the only thing.

Banana is a very odd choice for a summer fruit.

It's a soft, mushy, not very attractive...

It's not exciting, is it?

It's not exciting, it's not even very nice.

So you know why it's bananas?

-Tell me.

-Because Andy Murray apparently doesn't like bananas.

Is that true? Andy doesn't like...

Well, someone likes bananas because we go through 5,000 kilos.

So someone's eating them!

I don't care how strong the story is, it doesn't justify the pudding.

I think that Ally could still be in with a chance.

Last to the pass today is Ally with his dessert,

If Summer Ever Comes To Scotland,

inspired by rainy summer days and Scottish hedgerows.

He was criticised by Nathan for a lack of presentation,

and for leaving off his roasted fruit elements.

My berries didn't work yesterday, so I'm keeping a closer eye on them today.

I've not held them in the dehydrator for as long,

so they're going to work this time.

First on the plate goes lavender yoghurt

and meadowsweet gel.

What's your little shopping list next to your hand there?

-My list to make sure I don't forget stuff.

-Ah.

Next, fresh raspberries,

red currants, strawberries and blackberries.

Then the fruits he left off yesterday,

roasted and dehydrated blueberries,

blackberries and strawberries.

It looks like there's more berries this time.

I forgot my blackberries yesterday as well.

Next, wheatgrass sorbet, followed by

pansies and borage flowers.

You didn't have flowers on yesterday, did you?

I didn't have flowers. Guess what...

You forgot them?

And finally, he tops with crumbled shortbread.

Thank you very much.

So it's done. Can't do anything else now.

Mmm!

Not a lot of cooking going on here.

Well, that doesn't necessarily make it a bad pudding.

I'm much happier with that than I was with yesterday's.

It's not really a pudding, is it?

It's like breakfast.

It's just fruit.

It's almost the ingredients of a fruit shake.

One of the things we do for the players is a nutri-shake,

which has got the elements of the fruit, plus the wheatgrass, plus yoghurt.

I like the little borage flowers.

Shortbread, it's not the best I've ever had in the world,

-not enough butter in it.

-It doesn't taste very shortbready.

It's very pretty, but it's not the show-stopper.

No.

I've had up and down moments throughout the week,

and some big ones today as well.

I found it stressful last year. I'm finding it stressful today.

I'm not going to say I've enjoyed it, because that's just lying!

I'm really glad that both chefs had a couple of

really beautiful high points.

I gave a ten to one dish. Yeah. There's a banquet dish there.

Michael and Ally, welcome.

Good day at the office?

It's been stressful.

Chefs, it's been an absolutely tremendous day.

There were a couple of exceptional dishes today,

which we could see going through to the banquet, for sure.

So...

..going through to the national finals is...

..Michael.

SCATTERED APPLAUSE

-Thanks, man.

-Well done, man.

Thank you so much.

That means the world. Thank you so much.

Michael, your main course was exceptional.

-Really?

-The ox tongue was just beautifully cooked.

Wow!

I can't believe that.

It was astonishing.

In actual fact, all four of us scored it a ten.

No way!

That's amazing. Thank you very much.

Definitely worthy of serving it at Wimbledon.

-Wow.

-Ally, I'm really sorry,

you've cooked with great passion and great heart.

We absolutely loved your beetroot and ricotta starter.

It was just absolutely glorious. Well done on that.

Thank you. And thank you both very much indeed.

Thank you very much.

-Can you believe it? The ox tongue?!

-BLEEP!

I can't believe it.

You know, the best man won.

Michael is a great chef. Two those dishes are just centrepiece dishes.

Ally fought a good fight, but going up against dishes of that standard, that's hard going.

I'm upset. I've put a lot of work into it,

but I think Michael's an exceptional chef and he's proved it today.

I've learned a lot from it.

I think I can go away with my head held high.

-'Hello?'

-Hiya, it's me.

-Guess what?

-'What?'

I won!

'Yay!'

INAUDIBLE RESPONSE

'Oh, my God, Michael!'

-Congratulations, man.

-Thanks, dude.

Well done. That was amazing.

-I can't believe it. Cheers.

-Cheers.

Well done.

-This week has been insane.

-I'm so happy for you.

I'm excited to get back to the finals week, this time, fingers crossed, yeah?!

This time, yeah, this time fingers crossed for you.

All good.