Northern Ireland Starter Great British Menu

This year on Great British Menu...

Argh!

..24 of the country's most talented chefs...

It's literally blood, sweat and tears.

..are fighting it out in the toughest competition of their lives...

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

Hold on to your hat.

..as previous competitors...

Yeah, I'm quietly confident.

..and ambitious newcomers...

Don't jinx me.

..go head-to-head for the chance to cook at this year's banquet

celebrating 140 years of the iconic Wimbledon Championships,

the oldest and most prestigious tennis tournament in the world.

This week, competing to represent Northern Ireland, a returning chef...

I need to keep pushing here. I didn't come here for a joke.

..being challenged by two newcomers.

None of us are playing it safe.

If you're going to play it safe, you shouldn't be here, I think.

But which two will make it through to cook for the judges on Friday?

There's everything to worry about at the moment.

This year marks the 140th anniversary of the Wimbledon tennis championships.

The competition first took place in 1877 and since then...

You cannot be serious!

..has become the ultimate Grand Slam tournament...

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

..attracting the greatest players from around the globe

and signalling the start of the British summer.

-COMMENTATOR:

-Straight sets again!

Wimbledon champion again!

This week, competing for the chance to represent Northern Ireland in

next week's national finals...

..returning chef, Eddie Attwell,

who failed to make it through to the regional finals last year.

I've got a real point to prove. I want to be at the forefront of it.

I don't want to be going home. I want to be standing here on Friday.

Newcomer Joery Castel, originally from Holland,

but now working in Northern Ireland,

who's keen to make his mark with his experimental food.

I'm going to surprise everybody with different flavour combinations that

people don't expect but I think people are going to love it.

And fellow first-timer, Tommy Heaney, who's worked for some of

the country's biggest chefs and is ready for the challenge.

Big, bold flavours, lots of skill, and I believe it's going to be

good enough to get me all the way to the banquet.

Judging them, a chef with a renowned Isle of Skye restaurant serving

contemporary Scottish cuisine.

It's going to make a big difference who's judging us, isn't it?

No matter who we get, it's down to the dishes on the day.

A former banquet winner and two-time veteran chef.

Whoever's going to walk through there is going to be hitting us hard.

Michael Smith.

Stony faced.

-Hello, Chef.

-Welcome to Great British Menu.

-Eddie, returning once more.

-Back for another one.

Joery, first time for you.

Indeed. I'm nervous, but I'm ready.

Tommy, how are you feeling?

-Eager to get started.

-Good to hear.

Wimbledon, to compete there, you have to compete at the highest level.

It's exactly the same in this kitchen.

-I'll see you in there.

-Thank you.

Well, what do we think, boys?

No messing about now.

To impress Michael, the chefs must cook outstanding dishes that capture this year's brief,

a taste of summer, and pay tribute to 140 years of Wimbledon.

This is the opening course for the banquet. It's got to set the tone,

it's got to be bold, it's got to be dramatic,

it really needs to evoke that sense of excitement.

Having missed out on cooking for the judges last year,

Eddie Attwell is determined to go further this time around.

He's hoping to win veteran Michael over with his earthy salad starter, Womble Common.

-Eddie.

-Chef, how are you?

-How are you feeling?

-Anxious.

-Eddie, Womble Common.

-That's it.

-As in the Wombles of Wimbledon?

-That's it, exactly.

So this is going to be a representation of the actual common itself?

And what the Wombles fictionally ate as well.

I love the Wombles, always have done,

I think this is a really interesting approach to the brief.

What's going on here with your ingredients?

So basically trying to go through all the leaves, my representation for the leaves.

So I wanted to try and use some of the young summer kales that I have.

I'm going to dry them out, I'm going to crisp them.

Underneath there is some earthy flavours but with the pickles,

with the lightness of a nice cheese custard under there, too. It's just going to lift it up for you.

A cheese custard?

-I'm using this hard cheese from the South of Ireland, down from Cork, it's a Coolea.

-All right.

Got some salsify as well.

That's not a summer ingredient.

-It's the way I'm treating it.

-OK.

It's got a crispy element as well, not just the leaves,

which is actually artichokes, and I've dried the skins to represent the bark.

-This is Douglas fir, is it?

-I wanted to try to get that flavour through,

so we're going to be making an oil from the fir

-and then making an emulsion.

-I'm really intrigued to see how that turns out, Eddie.

-Thanks, Chef.

It's great to represent Wimbledon with a bit of humour,

but is Eddie going to showcase British summertime with a salad?

I'm not sure with those ingredients, but let's see.

Hoping to beat Eddie is Joery Castel, originally from the Netherlands,

with his dish, If It Ain't Dutch, It Ain't Much,

a tribute to Richard Krajicek,

the only Dutchman to win the Wimbledon singles trophy.

-Joery.

-Chef, good morning.

-Good to meet you.

-How are you?

A new face to the competition.

Indeed, and a new nationality as well, I believe.

Indeed. What can we expect from your food, Joery?

A lot of excitement.

We're going to do a variety of carrots.

We're going to use a little bit of a carrot and hemp seed crisp.

We're going to pickle some carrots with a little bit of fresh orange flavour in it as well.

I'm aiming to put a carrot meringue on.

-A carrot meringue?

-A carrot meringue.

-Nice and crispy...

-Sounds very contemporary.

-..and hopefully light.

You're sticking very closely to your Dutch roots,

literally, with your orange carrots.

Indeed, yes. Carrot is the main ingredient.

To counteract that sweetness, I'm going to use a very sharp sheep cheese. It's an Irish blue cheese.

And what techniques are you going to use with the cheese?

I'm going to put a wee wedge of cheese on it on its own.

But I'm also going to make a little creme, with the cheese,

and I'm going to use hazelnuts in it to add some extra flavour.

I'm going to add it together with white chocolate.

-What do you think?

-A lot of confidence in the carrot

so it'll be interesting.

I think it's a love it or hate it dish and I think you're going to love it.

There's a potential with Joery's salad, it could be overly sweet.

He said his cheese is going to be acidic enough to have a contrast,

but it could be a major risk.

Fellow newcomer Tommy Heaney is hoping to triumph with his warm salad

that pays homage to an essential Wimbledon figure.

-Tommy, welcome to the Great British Menu kitchen.

-Thank you very much.

-You're raring to go.

-Yeah, I think so.

Tell me the name of your starter, please, and the inspiration behind it.

Rufus Beets The Pigeons Away.

Rufus is a hawk who, before any tennis is played every morning,

he patrols all the courts and scares the pigeons away.

-Really?

-Yeah.

I'm guessing that the main ingredient of your dish is pigeon, is that right?

No, actually the main ingredient is the beetroot.

I've got some lovely baby beetroots here. So we're going to roast them down.

Take a few of them, we're going to smoke them down as well.

With this beetroot, we're going to make that into an emulsion.

OK. What are you going to do with the pigeon, Tommy?

The breasts, we're going to cook that at a low temperature.

How are you going to cook it, Tommy, if you don't cook it with precision,

it'll become tough very quickly.

Probably one of the reasons I'm not going to pan roast it. We're going to sous-vide it.

I want to keep it nice and tender.

After we've confited the legs, we're going to make a straw out of these beetroots.

I'm going to wrap that and fry them.

I really like the story and I'm looking forward to trying it.

-Thank you very much.

-All the best, Tommy.

-I hope you enjoy it.

Tommy's pigeon could be overcooked easily, so he's going to

have to be right on the money with that one.

Beetroot as well, each one of those is going to have to be perfect

to make this a perfect summer starter.

Confident with your salads, then?

I'm confident in my dish.

Vibrant colours, it's lovely.

My worry is for yous boys.

Yous are brought up in Northern Ireland, do they actually get a taste of summer in Northern Ireland?

Because I haven't seen it in the last 14 years.

Can't be that bad, mate, you hung around, didn't you?

For his dish, Rufus Beets The Pigeons Away,

Tommy is cooking beetroot three ways - pickling, smoking and emulsifying -

which he hopes will add a variety of flavours and textures.

I think it's safe to say, none of us are really playing it safe.

If you're going to play it safe, you shouldn't be here, I think.

He starts by cooking yellow, candied, red and white beets separately,

in order to preserve their colour.

Tommy's the only chef using meat on his starter

and is looking to impress Michael with his pigeon breast and legs,

cooked in a water bath to keep the meat tender.

Well, guys, you've met Michael. I think the pressure's really on.

I'm glad I didn't do any meat for this first course anyway because, erm...

Same, same, exactly! What about yourself, Tommy?

TOMMY CHUCKLES

Belfast-born Tommy Heaney is head chef at the prestigious

Leicester's Restaurant at the Great House Hotel in Bridgend, Wales.

One ham hock, one duck.

But he first got a taste of running a kitchen thousands of miles from home.

At the age of 14, I was working in the States

and the head chef didn't show up for work that day.

I knew what way the dishes were supposed to be, I just didn't know how to cook them.

The manager was pointing me in the right direction.

From that day on, I basically fell in love with it.

Service.

Tommy's career has included stints working for Michelin-starred chefs

in the UK as well as in Spain and Australia.

My style of food, I'd say it's light, lots of flavours, subtle.

Service, please.

To get inspiration for his summer menu,

Tommy took his kids to a local forest

with professional forager Sasha Ufnowska

to see what was on offer.

These are good berries but they're very bitter.

That's proper sour, isn't it?!

It's always nice to get feedback from the kids because you know what kids are like, they're hard to feed.

If I can get them to eat the food, it must be good.

-What do you think, guys?

-Good.

-Do you think it's good enough to win a competition?

-Yes.

-Yes.

In the kitchen, returning chef Eddie is also focusing on earthy

ingredients for his cheese and root-vegetable salad, Womble Common.

He's hoping to impress with his modern techniques.

He begins by preparing three types of crumb - hazelnut,

squid ink and malt beer.

Next, he poaches salsify batons in white wine, lemon and thyme

to lighten the flavour.

Where did the Wombles inspiration come from?

When I got the brief I had to speak to my oracle, my mum.

-There you go.

-She started singing it,

so I thought, do you know what, why not?

I think I'm a bit of wombler, too.

Belfast-born Eddie's cooking is shaped by the ingredients grown in

the garden of the restaurant where he's head chef, St Kyrans Country House.

The first thing we do every morning, we go out and check what's

out there in the tunnel and what's coming through, you know, do we need to change the menu?

The summer for me is those smells, those associations of freshness.

Having failed to get through to cook for the judges last year,

this time Eddie is approaching the competition

with more focus and determination.

You have to learn from what you've done.

I want to do well this year. I want to redeem myself.

In an attempt to perfect his dishes,

he's travelled home to get a critique from his mum and dad,

who are both former chefs.

There's actually a sweetness to that.

They're naturally sweet, especially when you bake something like that.

It's lovely.

When I first mentioned the brief to you, you started singing

The Wombles, so I thought I had to build on it!

It reminded me that you looked a bit like a Womble at a stage

and we managed to hoke out this photograph for you.

He just lives and breathes food.

He's opened my eyes to a whole lot of things.

We're both very, very proud of him.

I think he should go all the way.

Back in the kitchen,

Joery is working on his candied toasted hazelnuts, one of the sweet elements

in his unusual carrot and cheese starter.

I'm pretty much worried about everything. There's a few crispy bits,

I hope they're going to be crispy enough.

Next, he moves on to his carrot meringues and carrot crisps,

but with several carrot elements in his dish,

he needs to ensure each one has a different flavour and texture.

Hi, Joery. Is this your meringue?

This is my crisps and I've got the wee meringues here.

Earlier I didn't offer you the hazelnuts, so have a wee try.

It adds another texture, it adds another extra earthy flavour to everything.

So these two elements,

-you're using the carrot but you want to add a bit of crunch, right?

-Exactly, yes.

How are you minimalizing the sweetness.

I think these ones are not too sweet and I think the whole balance of the dish,

you will see it in the end, it will work out.

Have you got a lot to do still?

-I've got a few bits to do.

-I'll let you crack on.

-No worries, thank you.

Dutch-born Joery Castel moved to Northern Ireland 14 years ago

and quickly adopted it as his home, opening his restaurant, The Boathouse, in 2008.

I'm extremely proud to represent Northern Ireland on the Great British Menu.

Settling in Bangor,

Joery is known for his experimental cooking style and presentation.

There's no point me cooking something

that people can cook at home

so I want to give them something they wouldn't have thought of trying,

that tickles their brain as well as their taste buds.

To test out his unusual summer starter,

Joery's invited his parents to his restaurant,

along with his good friend Jim.

Mmm, yummy. It's a really good dish.

It's the first time I've ever tasted white chocolate and blue cheese

together but it kind of works. It's incredible.

I'm going to bring the wow factor to the competition.

I'm not going there just for the craic.

I want to give them a taste of Northern Ireland with a Dutch twist.

SHE SPEAKS DUTCH

-Good luck!

-Thank you, Mum. Thank you.

Back in the kitchen,

Tommy still has several elements to complete for his dish,

Rufus Beets The Pigeons Away.

He places his cooked beetroots into a smoker before returning to his

beetroot-wrapped pigeon legs,

which he's planning on presenting in an unusual way.

So this is some pigeon, right?

Pigeon legs, I've confited these down and we're just taking these beetroot strings.

I'm just going to wrap it and then fry it and that's it.

And that's going to add a bit of texture, it's making sure you use all the parts of the pigeon.

-Exactly.

-A pigeon's claws,

is that supposed to be a little hint towards Rufus?

Yeah, I mean, when you see the final dish,

you'll see why I've left the claws on there.

Tommy's pigeon claw, it looked as if it could be from a hawk itself.

That could be just a little bit too much for some of the guests at the banquet.

Eddie is working on one of the technical elements for his Wimbledon scene,

a Douglas fir emulsion,

which he uses to coat baby lettuce leaves before charring.

Next, he moves on to his Coolea cheese custard,

a dressing he's designed to enhance the earthy flavours of his salad.

-Chef.

-Can I try a bit?

Absolutely, Chef.

So you want that nuttiness, real strong, bold cheese flavour,

-to counterbalance the other elements of your salad?

-That's it, yeah.

I'll be interested to see what it's like when it is finished, but it tastes good just now.

Thanks, Chef.

With plate-up fast approaching,

Joery is also working on a cheese creme, which he hopes will balance

the sweetness of his carrot-based salad.

Next, he pickles ribbons of carrot in orange juice, vinegar and honey

to add acidity to his dish.

There's a lot of things happening

and these boys are on the ball as well.

I see there's everything to worry about at the moment.

Tommy is first to the pass with his dish, Rufus Beets The Pigeons Away.

He begins with his beetroot emulsion,

then pigeon breast and smoked beetroot.

-How's the pigeon looking, has it come out the way you wanted it?

-Yeah, I think so.

He adds the deep-fried pigeon legs, complete with claws,

and fresh and pickled berries.

He sprinkles sunflower seeds

and tops with nasturtium leaves and flowers...

..then hazelnut dressing and redcurrants.

He places the dish in an imitation bird's nest.

-What's all in the baskets there?

-It's a little thumbs-up to Rufus.

-Is that his nest, is it?

-Rufus's nest, yeah.

And finishes with slices of pickled white, red and candy cane beetroot.

Your opening serve. How are you feeling?

I'm pleased, I'm pleased to get it up on time.

"Squawk, my name is Rufus the Hawk.

"Every morning at Wimbledon I have the very important task of chasing

"away those pesky pigeons so that play can begin.

"I present to you this morning's catch, served up with beetroot. Enjoy."

-Well, I thank Rufus for that. Shall we go and try it?

-Yes.

And I know you want the claw to be representative of Rufus,

which I think's great, but do you think it might be a bit too much,

might scare off some of the banquet-goers?

Well, I want it to be a bit dramatic, as well.

-It's very livery.

-Yeah.

-It's very rich, isn't it? Iron-y.

-We're going to get some pigeon breast, Tommy.

-Yeah.

-Quite easy to overcook pigeon, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Very pleased with that. For me, it melts in the mouth.

That is lovely and it's nice

that it's all getting masked in all the beetroot as well.

-So the smoked beetroot?

-I was a little bit concerned that I maybe over-smoked it.

The smokiness is definitely there but it's not overpowering anything I've tasted so far.

I don't think it's exciting enough for a banquet.

What would you mark your dish?

I'd be pleased with an eight.

-How did that go? Give anything away?

-No, no, nothing.

How did the leg come out?

I thought it was a bit too livery for my taste.

But the breast was perfectly cooked to me.

-I really enjoyed that.

-Good.

Next up to the pass is Joery with his dish,

If It Ain't Dutch, It Ain't Much.

Having caramelised his baby carrots,

he adds melted white chocolate to his plate.

Joery, what are you doing there with a tennis ball?

Is the ball in, is the ball out, you see the bounce of the ball

-sometimes, so sort of to replicate that.

-OK.

Then, his Irish blue cheese, blue cheese creme...

..ribbons of pickled carrots and a topping of cocoa nibs.

How you getting on, Joery?

-Because you're due up now.

-One and a half minutes off, Chef.

Next, his candied carrots, Mizuna leaves

and shards of dehydrated carrot crisp.

Joery finishes with his carrot meringues,

carrot leaves and hemp powder.

Now, Joery. Your first dish up, how do you feel?

Here it is. Well, it's a lot of pressure.

Everything on the plate that you wanted?

-I think so, yes.

-OK.

-Shall we go and taste it, then?

-Yes.

Let's do that.

I don't think there was any more shades of orange he could get on there, really!

Try a bit of the blue cheese.

It's nice and sharp.

The blue cheese tastes good.

-That's got a kick.

-Oh, yeah.

I think with that white chocolate, just calms it down a bit.

-Mellows it a bit.

-Yeah.

-This is the blue cheese...

-That's the blue cheese creme, yeah.

But this isn't the consistency you were looking for, is it?

No, it was supposed to be a bit thinner than a mayonnaise.

I can taste garlic, I wasn't expecting it.

Yeah, it's a little overpowering, isn't it?

How about the crunch of the wafer, nice contrast?

Yeah, pleased with the wafer, pleased with the meringue.

I'm not sure about that meringue.

Almost like a gummy texture to it, you know?

That's the strongest carrot flavour on the whole plate, isn't it?

Anything missing from your plate, Joery?

I'm just realising it's the hazelnuts.

Disappointing.

What would you score your first course?

Maybe a five.

Chef. Well done.

-All right. How did it go, mate?

-I'm annoyed with myself.

I forgot one of the main items - the lovely, crunchy hazelnuts.

The hazelnuts, we didn't even notice it because we got the flavour in there.

I'll make sure it'll not happen again the rest of the week.

Eddie is last to the pass with his dish, Womble Common,

a humorous nod to Wimbledon's other famous inhabitants.

-He's got a lot going on, hasn't he?

-He does, aye.

He rolls his poached salsify in the squid-ink crumb and

places in his carved wooden bowl.

Next, charred lettuce, pickled lettuce stalks,

his Coolea cheese custard and pickled mushrooms.

-Eddie.

-Chef.

-How're you getting on?

One minute.

He adds lettuce leaves, Jerusalem artichoke puree,

Jerusalem artichoke crisps...

..and tops with crispy kale and nettle powder.

He finishes with edible flowers and his Douglas fir emulsion.

Chef.

-Happy?

-Yeah.

-Let's go and taste it.

-OK, let's go for it.

So this is the artichoke...

-Cracker, and it's got a little bit of Douglas mayonnaise on it.

-OK.

Oh, yeah, very good.

A lot of creaminess with the Douglas fir, quite subtle.

-Are you getting the Douglas fir flavour?

-I am indeed.

The cheese custard is really nice.

It's smooth, it's light.

-The custard's quite a starring role.

-It is.

How's the cheese flavour for you?

I love it.

OK.

I think the problem is, because there's a cheese custard on there,

there's a drizzle of artichoke puree on there

and then he's got a Douglas fir emulsion on there,

it kind of all gets combined into one.

First course, high standard, I'm starting to worry a little bit.

What's your mark?

I'd like to get an eight.

I'll be nice to myself at the start of the week!

All right.

Well...tough?

-Of course it is.

-I thought it was a very good dish.

If I was you, I would be very pleased with that.

Thanks very much.

It's key, really, to jump in front here, isn't it?

It's going to set the tone for the rest of the week.

I was very anxious, you know? I'm annoyed with myself for forgetting one of the items on the plate.

I'm fearing the worst at the moment.

Hi, chefs. That's the first course out the way. How does it feel?

A bit of a relief.

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

The presentation was lovely and colourful, evocative of summer.

I thought the pickled beetroots did exactly what you hoped for,

they added a bit of texture, a bit of crunch, a little bit of acidity.

I thought the pigeon breast was tender and it had good flavour.

However...

..the pigeon was slightly on the rare side.

I didn't mind that, but it wouldn't be to everyone's tastes.

Pigeon leg was a little bit dry.

Overall, I think the pigeon was slightly overwhelmed by the beetroot element of the salad.

Joery, your dish.

Your dish looked vibrant.

You definitely got that bright orange colour across.

The idea behind your dish is a fantastic story.

However...

..what you plated up today, I don't think told that story.

You went to a lot of effort in the preparation of your carrots,

however, once I'd tasted the cheese,

everything was overpowered by that flavour.

I did taste your candied hazelnuts, I really, really liked them.

They weren't on the plate. It's a real shame.

Eddie, your dish.

I thought the salad itself was delicious, very interesting,

the different components were well balanced.

The charred lettuce was really good, added some crunch and texture.

The artichoke puree on the crisp, really tasty.

The cheese custard itself, it was a really nice dressing for the salad.

However...

..nothing in that salad was evocative of the British summertime.

Onto the scores.

I'm going to start with you, Tommy.

I'm giving you a score of...

..seven.

Joery, I'm giving you a score of...

..five.

Eddie, I'm giving you a score of...

..seven.

Well done to you all for getting your first course done.

It's tough in this kitchen, right?

It's the fish course next and I'm really looking for a taste of summer.

-Good luck with that.

-Thank you, Chef.

-Thank you.

-Well done, boys.

-So, how do you feel, Eddie?

Justifiable enough, you know, I take every point on board he's saying,

you know, we have to. Who doesn't want more than seven?

But I'm on the top of the pecking order at the minute,

so I'll be happy with that.

Now to the next course, eh?

Obviously I was hoping for more but it's early, isn't it?

So anything could happen.

It's only two points, mate. You'll catch up.

I'm just going to have to do better.

I want to focus on the fish and make the best of that and hopefully it's

all open again. I'm going to have to get my best game out for the next three courses

and see if I can overtake both of yous, or at least one of yous.

We'll see!