Wales Dessert Great British Menu

This year on Great British Menu...

-Summer is a-coming.

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

Who can live up to them expectations?

..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 Wales in the national finals

are third-time competitor Phil Carmichael...

Pressure is an illusion.

..who grabbed the lead yesterday with his outstanding main course.

You took the humble barbecue to another level.

First-timer Nick Brodie who,

despite losing marks for the simplicity of his dish,

is just one point behind.

I think every dish needs to be a showstopper.

And fellow newcomer Paul Croasdale,

whose complex lamb main didn't quite hit the mark...

I'm giving you a seven.

..leaving him in third place.

-And the shakes are back.

-And so they should, Paul.

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

Is this warm now?

But with only the two highest-scoring competitors

cooking for the judges tomorrow...

-If this fouls up, man...

-Game over.

..who will be leaving the competition?

Going straight through to tomorrow's final is...

This year, the chefs have been challenged to create dishes that capture

the tastes of summer, in tribute to the 140th anniversary

of the Wimbledon Championships.

With only one course left to cook, Phil has 25 points,

Nick, 24 and Paul, 22.

So, guys, final day, desserts. It's such a close competition.

It's been the most competitive Welsh region I've been involved in.

I'm not going to give up. I just hope my dish is a ten.

I've got one more chance to get it right.

-Yeah.

-I've had two nines off Tom,

so I'm planning on serving an ace for today's dessert.

THEY LAUGH

Judging their dishes this week is Tom Aikens, a former banquet winner.

He's looking for show-stopping dishes.

-Hi, chefs.

-Morning, Tom.

-How are we?

-Feeling good.

How do you feel about your scores?

Yeah, it's left me with quite a lot to do with the dessert.

It's two points, it's nothing!

It's like that. Nick could drop his dessert.

I could drop Nick's dessert.

THEY LAUGH

You did!

As I said, everything to play for today.

I want to see drama, I want to see passion and I want to see a dish

that is worthy for the banquet.

-So get cooking.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

We are onto the dessert course,

but there's only three points in it.

I want to see creativity, I want to see them push themselves,

I want to see one of these chefs really wow me and get me that ten.

Currently in third place,

Paul is hoping that his elaborate fruit dessert will keep him in the competition.

-Hello, Chef.

-Hi, Paul. How are we?

-Yeah, good.

Great. So, tell me your dish.

Basically, a fruit salad.

It's called A Peach Of A Serve.

Oh, I like that.

Maybe you'll do an ace.

I hope so. Even if I can get near deuce, I'll be happy.

-HE CHUCKLES

-What are the ingredients?

Peaches, tomatoes, raspberries and basil.

And I assume the peaches are the main component of it, is it?

Yeah, the peach is going to be, like, in three different ways.

-OK.

-I'm going to burn one, make some little wedges,

I'm going to make a meringue and then I'm going to make like a peach tomato tartare.

So, why tomato?

I mean, it is a fruit and seeds go

really, really well, I find, really cut through everything.

Got some really good basil here, which is obviously really fresh-flavoured.

I'm going to make a sorbet out of it,

but I'm also going to make a sweet basil pesto...

-OK.

-..using almonds, which really go with peach.

And so the curd, you're making a mousse, yes?

Yeah, literally like a cheesecake mousse with the curd to just give it a bit of oomph.

-So you're going to give me the wow?

-I'm going to try.

-Nick, Phil?

I like the sound of that sweet basil pesto.

-I'm intrigued.

-Tomato and basil?

I wouldn't put that on the menu as a safe bet.

-Maybe save the best till last?

-I hope so.

Paul has finally realised he's got to go for it.

He's going to push himself in his dish.

He's got peach meringue, he's got a basil pesto,

he's got a tomato tartare.

Will he be able to pull it off?

Can't wait to see.

In second place,

Nick has scored consistent eights for his dishes all week but,

with the competition so close, he's aiming higher today with his dessert,

Apple Scrumping.

Hi, Nick.

-Hi, Chef.

-How are we?

-Really good.

-Tell me about your dish.

-It's a dish that reminds me of summer as a kid,

walking home from school, nicking the apples.

When I was designing the dish, those memories sort of came back.

-Of stealing apples?

-Yeah, man, I loved that!

-It's better than cars, I guess.

It is, yeah. I'm going to sort of caramelise some of the apples,

I'm going to leave some just raw.

You've got some white chocolate. What are we doing with this?

It's going to be a white chocolate mousse with a green Carrageenan coating on it

to look like an apple on the plate.

-OK.

-Now, that's going to be my only struggle today,

is the timing to get this...

Sounds like it, yeah. ..made, frozen, dipped and served.

And the presentation, hopefully,

will look like a tree with apples coming off it.

OK. Do you think there's enough summery feel about your dish?

Yeah, apples are coming through at those times,

and people sort of dismiss them usually until later on in the year.

Phil, what do you think of Nick's dish?

I think he's taken a risk, trying to get the sphere and get it coated.

-Yeah.

-Could be a tricky one, this, yeah?

Could be your two, could be his ten.

Yeah, could be. I tell you what, I think I have to do that.

You have to risk it, you have to push the boundaries.

-That's what I'm going to do.

-Good luck.

-Thank you, Chef.

Nick's dessert, Apple Scrumping,

the brief is the taste of summer, caramel, apples.

Really, is it a summery dish?

Third-time competitor Phil regained the top spot yesterday and is hoping

his dish, Game, Set and Massive Mess,

will take him through to cook for the judges.

It features the flavours of a summer cup cocktail,

which failed to come through in his fish course.

-Hi, Phil.

-Hi, Chef.

-Desserts.

-Yeah.

-What are we doing?

-Peach and champagne trifle.

-OK.

-With an Eton mess tennis ball.

Right. OK.

So, explain each part of this dish.

So I'm going to take these beautiful peaches,

poach these in a little bit of champagne.

-OK.

-And then I'm going to take that champagne, turn that into a jelly...

-Right.

-..to set the peaches in.

I'm also going to make a champagne mousse.

-Right.

-For the Eton mess, we are using strawberries, vanilla,

a little bit of this lemon thyme.

And the summer cup, what is that?

The summer cup, that's going to be just a sort of background flavour

-for my strawberry consomme, my strawberry jelly.

-OK.

It's not a predominant flavour like it was in my fish course.

-Say that again.

-It's not a predominant flavour as it should have been in my fish course.

Right, OK.

But enough of a background note that I can taste it?

-Yes.

-OK.

-But it's going to be a fun dish.

-Which is what it's all about.

-Yeah, exactly.

-Nick, what do you think about Phil's dish?

-It sounds quite complex.

I'm interested to see how it'll turn out.

-Yeah, so am I!

-I think it's actually nice to see that all of you are

being put out of your own comfort zones, which is what I want to see.

Good luck.

Phil's dessert definitely sounds like Wimbledon.

Poached strawberries, champagne mousse and Eton mess.

Will he have enough time?

Could be a ten, could be a disaster.

At the end of today,

the chef with the lowest total score will be going home and,

with the competition so close, everyone's feeling the heat.

I need to claw back a couple of points, try and get up there with you.

Yeah, this dish, it's a real showstopper,

it's all about celebrating Wimbledon, so I'm going for this one, guys.

Hopefully, this one can get me a really high score and see if it can get me through to the judges.

Paul has eight components for his refined summer fruit salad,

A Peach Of A Serve, which he'll need to execute precisely to balance the sweet and savoury

flavours. He starts by making his unusual peach and tomato tartare

with chopped raspberries and basil.

So, Paul, how are you feeling, man?

Yeah, I mean, I think I've probably got a few elements

that I need to make sure are bang on.

-Yeah.

-And I obviously need to get a really high score to have any chance

-of getting through.

-Yeah.

Paul's going all-out to impress Tom and is serving his dessert with

a challenging pulled peach sugar garnish.

-What's this for?

-Crispy pulled sugar.

-OK.

He's heating peach sugar in a pan,

which needs to reach 140 degrees to be soft enough to work with,

but any higher and it'll start to caramelise.

Can I use the thermometer, man?

Yeah, quickly.

It's a little bit tense today because everyone's

trying their best to get through.

Nick's working on the main element of his ambitious dessert,

Apple Scrumping, which he hopes will resemble an apple when it's finished.

He starts by creating a white chocolate mousse centre,

by pouring a mix of white chocolate and stock syrup into moulds and

placing in the blast chiller to set.

Yeah, what do you reckon? Apple one,

do you think it was a bit of an autumnal way to go?

That's risky. I mean, Tom's mentioned that he thinks that's more of a winter dish.

I went out in the garden and the apples were the best thing out there.

I mean, the apple tree in my garden was really late August.

-Yeah...

-Like my birthday, in October!

THEY LAUGH

Phil's dessert, Game, Set and Massive Mess,

will feature an Eton mess,

made from a meringue tennis ball filled with fruit,

cream and summer cup jelly,

sitting on a layered champagne jelly and mousse.

He starts work by working on the summer cup jelly...

Whoo!

..compressing strawberries soaked in the liqueur, to intensify the flavour.

When I had look at the brief, I tried my best to stay away from

strawberries. I just thought it was a bit safe.

I don't think using strawberries in a summer cup is playing it safe at

all. In my opinion, you can't have a banquet celebrating Wimbledon,

the height of British summer, without seeing a strawberry.

-Do you reckon it's in Tom's opinion?

-I hope so!

THEY LAUGH

Next, Phil strains the liquid from his compressed strawberry mixture

and leaves his summer cup jellies to set.

How's it going over your side, Phil?

A lot to do, a lot of jellies to set,

but I'm hoping I can pull it off and serve a winning shot.

THEY LAUGH

Summer cup liqueurs have been used to make cocktails

for hundreds of years,

and today are available in many different varieties.

To find out more about the origins of the drink,

Phil's come to Scotland to meet Alia Campbell.

-Hi, Alia.

-Hi, Phil.

-Nice to meet you.

-Good to meet you.

..a historian who curates the Diageo drinks archive.

So, Alia, I'm using this drink as part of my summer dessert.

Can you tell me a little bit about that?

Yeah. The summer cup, as a drink, goes back to the Victorian era.

We've got a nice old pewter tankard here.

This is probably the style the summer cup was originally actually served.

So this is the original summer cup?

Yeah. And it would have been gin mixed with fruit flavours and herbs,

topped up with something fizzy,

probably like we have today with lemonade or maybe soda water,

-something like that.

-So what would people have, you know,

eaten alongside the summer cup originally?

In the 1840s a man named James Pimm was actually one of the first to

create this style of drink.

He owned an oyster bar and he created this drink as an aperitif

to go alongside his shellfish and his oysters.

So we've got so much information about the history of the summer cup,

we can go and have a look at that just now.

-Yeah, let's go and have a look.

-Great.

James Pimm's recipe for summer cup grew in popularity amongst

the upper-middle classes throughout the Victorian era.

Wow! It's like an Aladdin's cave.

Yeah, it certainly is.

And as more restaurants began serving the cocktail,

it started to feature alongside other foods.

This is actually a menu from 1897,

on the day when they were celebrating Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.

-Fantastic.

-This is the sort of thing that would have been served

alongside the summer cup.

You can see there's quite a few fruits at the end there,

fruits and ices and sweets,

wine jellies bringing in the fruit flavours.

I see on this menu they've got the old strawberries and cream,

so that obviously works well with summer cup.

And then, here, we've got some of the old advertising

dating back to the 1930s.

You know, he's having a game of tennis

and over here this lady's taken some time out of her tennis match to enjoy a summer cup as well.

So it's very much the association building with the sporting events and, you know, the summertime.

Alia, thank you for showing me all this wonderful history about

-the summer cup.

-You're very welcome. Best of luck.

-Sounds like you're onto a winner.

-Thank you.

Back in the kitchen, Paul is pushing hard

to get his sweet and savoury dessert ready on time.

This is normal Paul, when he's put under this kind of pressure,

-a bit stressed out.

-A lot to do.

A lot to get right, as well.

He's got four peach elements left to complete, including peach meringues,

which he places in the dehydrator.

Next he moves on to his basil pesto, made with candied hazelnuts and almonds.

BLEEP.

Paul's really stressed. I think he's still got a lot to do.

He's running around, I think he's panicking a bit,

he's pushing himself to the limit, and it may well all pay off.

How's it going?

-Yeah, good.

-You sure?

Yeah.

Just breathe.

It's going to be all right. Good luck.

Cheers, Chef.

Across the kitchen, Nick is still working on the complex centrepiece of his apple dessert.

He's making a green gel,

which he'll use to coat the chocolate mousse spheres to make them look like apples.

Next, he makes a caramel sauce

which he plans to turn into a powder that melts in the mouth when eaten.

How's it going, Nick?

-All right.

-What we got here, then?

So I'm going to be making a maltodextrin caramel powder.

-Let's watch that.

-Yeah.

When the maltodextrin is added to Nick's sauce,

it should quickly turn it into a powder.

-You've done this before, of course?

-Yeah, yeah, man.

Nick's really pushing himself.

He's making a caramel powder out of maltodextrin.

It wasn't working particularly very well.

Who knows? It may come off, it may not.

With the powder finally mixing,

Nick moves on to yet another technical element of his dish.

Nice goggles, man!

He's using liquid nitrogen to create small frozen crumbs of

creme anglaise, which he hopes will have a sorbet-like texture.

You know when sometimes you do a dish, and you think, "Why did I do that?"

-Yeah.

-Yeah...

-Having one of these moments?

Yeah, I think it is.

Phil still has several elements of his layered dessert,

Game, Set And Massive Mess, left to complete.

Winner!

With time running out, he needs to finish his champagne mousse,

to get it to set on top of his champagne jelly.

Phil, I'm glad to see at last you're pushing yourself.

-You're sweating.

-I've been sweating all week!

No, you haven't, Chef, you've been, like, cool as a cucumber.

-So you're really going for the ten, then?

-Yes, I have to.

I've got to get this in the fridge.

Paul is first to the pass with his dish, A Peach Of A Serve.

At the last minute, he finishes his pulled peach sugar,

stretching it into long, thin strands.

Onto a serving plate, he pipes goat's curd mousse,

and adds his peach tartare.

How are you getting on there, Paul? Is that how you wanted it to look?

Better than I expected at the moment, but we'll see when it's finished.

Next, peach slices...

Basil pesto...

And his pulled peach sugar.

-How's it going, Paul?

-Yeah,

just making sure it looks perfect to bring to you.

Finally, he adds his savoury basil sorbet.

-Calm now, are we?

-Nope.

-Everything there that should be?

-Yep.

-Guys, what do you think?

-I think it's a great-looking dish, yeah.

-Nice colours.

-Let's go and try it.

Beautiful-looking plate of food.

The colours are banging. It looks like summer.

Paul, you seem a little disappointed.

I forgot to put my meringues on it.

I've made a mistake, hopefully the flavours are enough.

At least you know that you've tried to push yourself.

-Yeah.

-Right, let's try it.

So, I'm intrigued about this basil sorbet.

Yeah.

-Very nice flavour of basil, but that's a little bit too sweet for me.

-Yeah, it is a bit sweet.

Your curd mousse is almost on the savoury side,

-but that counterbalances the sweetness you have in the rest of the dish as well.

-Yeah.

'What do you reckon to the pesto?'

-I like it.

-I think when you mix it, as well, with the other ingredients, that's good.

The savoury ingredients you have in the dish,

you've got the tomato, the pesto and you have the curd.

Do they all work well together for you?

I think so. You add a bit of freeze-dried raspberry on the meringue,

which is obviously not there, it would have really come through.

I think the dish together is a real tasty dish.

Yeah, he hasn't elevated that fruit salad up to the next level enough for me.

Paul, what score would you give your dish?

You know, the flavours are right.

Go on, seven.

All right, guys?

-How you doing, mate?

-How are you feeling, Paul?

-PAUL:

-It was too big.

I know you're disappointed with that dish. I could tell when you were putting it up.

You know, I was always going to make mistakes.

Nerves, I didn't think would come into it, but they really have.

I thought the flavours on your dish, man, were really good.

Yeah.

Nick is next to plate up with his dish, Apple Scrumping.

He starts by dipping his white chocolate mousse spheres in his green apple gel.

Are you worried about those mousses?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

THEY LAUGH

If this fouls up, man...

-Game over?

-I may as well trot off home, yeah?

On a serving plate, Nick pipes chocolate to represent an apple tree.

Next, he adds caramelised apples,

followed by his caramel powder and crumbs of his frozen creme anglaise.

-Nick...

-Oui.

-..are you nearly ready to be on the pass, please?

-I will, yeah.

With no time left, he places the apple spheres on top.

Did the apples set in the end?

I'll tell you what, mate, it's very, very soft.

Adds chocolate apple stalks.

And garnishes with apple blossom.

It looks amazing.

I tell you, it looks bright, fresh,

but I'm still not sold on apples in summer, though.

I think we should go try it, see if there's any summer in there.

Yeah, there's loads.

THEY LAUGH

Are you happy with the way it looks, and the presentation?

If I'd had a bit more time, I would have probably sealed around

so it would have been a perfect apple.

-OK.

-Visually, it looks good.

For me, it's not a summer dish, though.

I'd agree with you, it's an autumnal dish.

The overriding colour is brown.

-Yeah.

-And I wouldn't necessarily associate brown with summer.

Yeah, that's true.

The apple component, the white chocolate mousse,

the flavour's beautiful...

-It's like a ganache.

-Yeah, exactly, it's very, very rich.

I think your mousse is absolutely delicious.

Thank you.

The brandy caramel...

Was it enough brandy?

There's enough in there.

I didn't want it to mask any of the flavours of the white chocolate or the apple.

I got some of the caramel sauce with it,

and that's got a hell of a boozy kick.

Yeah.

-You used quite a lot of technical methods in the preparation of this dish.

-Yeah.

Do you think it was necessary?

-Most definitely.

-He put some creme anglaise or custard into liquid

nitrogen as well, and the effect is just not there.

Please, tell me, what would you give your dish out of ten?

I think it's a nine.

-You all right, Nick, how are you?

-It's OK.

There were elements I would have tweaked if I would have had time.

Visually, it was beautiful.

The only thing for me is, is it summer?

Last to plate up his Phil with his dessert, Game, Set and Massive Mess,

a Wimbledon-inspired take on the traditional Eton mess.

To create his tennis balls,

he fills hollow meringue halves with calvados cream,

summer fruits and his summer cup jelly.

You had the summer cup on your mackerel.

-Does this one come through more?

-Hopefully.

Next, he places meringue lids piped to look to look like tennis balls on top.

Is that the one with the Eton mess?

Yeah, pretty much.

The smart version, yeah?

-Yeah.

-More of an Eton tidy!

THEY LAUGH

He removes his layered champagne mousses from the fridge and sprinkles

over green hundreds and thousands, to represent the grass of Wimbledon.

Finally, he serves with his tennis ball on top,

decorated with edible rice paper rackets.

There you go, Game, Set And A Massive Mess.

HE CHUCKLES

You can definitely say that that's a nod to the old

Wimbledon Championships. Right, shall we go and try one?

-Yeah, let's do it.

-OK.

-I think it hits the brief.

-100%.

I think it looks brilliant.

Is there anything that you would change?

Yeah, it's probably a little bit on the generous side.

-It is a little big.

-Yeah.

I'm going to do the first serve, if that's OK?

Absolutely.

There we go.

Wow.

It's actually a lot softer to eat than it is to break.

In the Eton mess, how did you use the summer cup in that?

The raspberries have been marinated in a royal summer cup

and there's a little bit in the jelly.

But If I compare that to your mackerel...

-Yeah?

-..that's much better.

-OK.

What do you reckon to the champagne jelly at the bottom?

The champagne jelly and the peach at the bottom is stunning.

-Would you say that there's enough champagne tasting in the jelly and mousse?

-Yeah, absolutely.

-You would, would you?

-Yeah.

Strawberries, peaches, champagne,

it's exactly what he said.

The only thing I'm unsure of, though, is whether it's

two different dishes, one trifle and one Eton mess,

which have been put together.

It's fun, it smacks of summer.

You know, I'm pleased with this dish.

-It's my favourite dish.

-It could be mine, too.

-How was it?

-Yeah, I thought it went really well.

-I see you're smiling nice.

-Yeah.

It's been super-stressful this week. Hopefully I've done enough.

I'd be gutted if I had to go home,

I want to be the one representing Wales.

I'd love another go to get them right,

but you don't get second chances in this competition.

So the dessert, I was expecting a little bit more theatre and drama.

So, did you deliver?

Paul, I'm going to start with your dish, A Peach Of A Serve.

The sweetness from the peaches balanced very well

with the savoury notes from the goats' curd mousse.

The basil pesto and tomato tartare were a nice surprise,

and the pulled sugar really showed your technical ability as a chef.

I really commend you for trying something daring,

but I think in the rush to be innovative

you definitely got a little bit flustered.

The portion was way too big and too clumsy for the banquet.

As you know, you forgot the meringues as well.

Yeah.

Nick, for your dish, Apple Scrumping,

you clearly made an effort with the presentation and that truly showed

some invention. The white chocolate mousse inside your apple was

delicious, creamy and rich.

But...

..your apple spheres were too big,

and the gel on the outside of the mousse wasn't totally smooth.

Brown caramel apple, brown sauteed apples,

not the colours at all I associate with summer.

Phil, your dish, Game, Set And A Massive Mess...

Wimbledon is all about precision and execution.

The finish on your tennis ball was definitely not an ace.

However, there were lots of inventive ideas on this dish.

I loved the surprise of the Eton mess inside the tennis ball.

It had all the best summer fruits in it and tasted delicious.

The flavours in the champagne mousse were seriously good,

and the summer cup flavours shone through in that jelly.

And so to the scores.

With a score of nine,

and going straight through to tomorrow's final, is...

..Phil.

-How do you feel?

-Relieved, happy.

-Yeah, thank you.

-Well done, mate.

This is a high nine.

If you reduce the portion size,

smarten up the tennis ball,

you could be easily away onto a ten.

So, that leaves you, Nick...

..and you, Paul.

Nick, you're on 24.

Paul, you're on 22.

Nick, I'm going to give your dish...

..a score of seven.

Paul, I'm giving your dish...

..a score of seven.

So, Nick, that means that you're going through to the regional finals.

Thank you. Ecstatic.

THEY CHUCKLE

Paul, the scores all the way through were very close and you definitely

can go home and hold your head up high.

-So, well done, all of you. I loved judging your dishes and I'll see you very soon.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Congratulations.

-Cheers, man.

-Nailed it, big man.

It's devastating to go out of the competition.

-Maybe next year.

-I think all the food served has been great.

I'm where I want to be, in the judges' chamber,

and I just have to cook my heart out.

It's without a doubt the highest standard of food I've seen.

-Yeah.

-I hope I've got a little bit left in the tank,

ready to smash it for the judges.