Northern Ireland Fish Great British Menu

This year, on Great British Menu...

Woohoo!

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

Everything's got to be perfect.

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

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

-Pressure's on.

-Wahey!

..celebrating 140 years of the iconic Wimbledon Championships,

the oldest and most prestigious tennis tournament in the world.

This week, battling to represent Northern Ireland

in next week's national finals are returning chef Eddie Attwell,

in joint first place despite his starter not hitting the brief...

Nothing in that salad was evocative of the British summertime.

..newcomer Tommy Heaney, level with Eddie

after failing to perfect his dish...

What am I most worried about? Everything!

..and fellow first-timer Joery Castel,

whose unusual carrot salad scored just five points,

putting him in last place.

I'm just going to have to do better.

Today, it's the fish course, and after yesterday's low scores,

the chefs are all hoping to improve.

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

But who will come out on top?

Pressure's on, boys. Pressure's on.

To make it through to Friday's regional final,

each chef must produce outstanding dishes

that celebrate a taste of summer

in honour of 140 years of the Wimbledon Championships.

With one course down, Dutch-born Joery is in last place

with just five points...

The boys are ahead already, and I can't let them get any further away.

I have to come back. I have to get closer to them.

..while Eddie and Tommy are tied in first place on seven points.

Well, Tommy, neck and neck. Obviously, I want to get above you.

-I want to beat you.

-Competition's on, boys.

I don't want to be nasty, but I hope one of yous maybe forget an item

on the dish like I did yesterday.

It's everyone to their own here.

-I'll lock my fridges, I think.

-Exactly.

-He'll be sneaking about.

Pressure's on, boys. Pressure's on.

Judging this week is former banquet winner Michael Smith,

who expects nothing short of exceptional cooking.

-Hi, chefs.

-Morning.

-How are we all doing? How you feeling?

I'm over the disappointment from yesterday,

so I'm ready to go with this next course here.

Good to hear that. It's the fish course today.

I want to see nines. I want to see tens.

I want to see you guys really playing at your best,

-cooking up a storm. Good luck.

-ALL:

-Thank you.

With the first course,

the chefs didn't quite nail the brief strong enough.

It's really important in the Great British Menu to tell a story,

as well as deliver beautiful, bold flavours.

Dutch-born Joery is hoping to close the gap between him and his rivals

with his mackerel and cucumber dish, Who Remembers 2nd?

-Joery.

-Michael, hello.

-Hiya.

-You well?

-I'm good, thank you. How are you doing?

Yesterday was a little bit of a disaster.

Today, I'm going to make up for that.

Who Remembers 2nd? What's the inspiration behind that?

At Wimbledon, the number one takes all the attention,

but the second place has put a lot of effort

and a lot of training in themselves, as well.

So, I think we have to give them a little bit of attention, as well,

by naming a dish after second place.

So, my dish today is going to be charred mackerel.

It's going to be served with cucumber and aniseed creme,

and lightly spiced mackerel rillettes.

I'm going to finish it all together

and bind it off with some soy bubbles.

So, rillettes - almost you're breaking down

some lightly cooked mackerel into an almost pate-like consistency?

Yes, indeed. Yeah. With a nice sort of Malaysian flavour.

What we're going to do, we're going to make a sambal,

-which is a Malaysian chilli paste.

-Quite fiery, though, a sambal?

It is fiery, but I'm going to mellow it down a little bit.

You've got some lovely greenery here.

Got some spring onions, some bok choy,

some oyster leaves, cucumber in it, as well.

Cucumber, for me, is summery, as well.

I love a bit of spice, I really love mackerel,

so very much looking forward to your fish course.

-I'll let you get on with it.

-Thank you.

Joery's got to first and foremost maintain that mackerel

as being the star of the show.

He doesn't want those spices to overpower his mackerel.

Tommy's looking for a better score than yesterday's seven

for his refined picnic dish, Murray Mound, featuring salmon,

a tribute to Andy Murray's love of sushi.

-Tommy.

-Good to see you.

-What's your fish course?

My fish dish is going to be confit salmon,

salmon tartare, red cabbage caviar, oyster emulsion.

Going to use that to combine the tartare

and then we're going to roll that in compressed cucumber,

so, almost create, like, a little sushi roll.

Pickled cucumber and a horseradish and buttermilk sorbet.

This sounds like you're trying to take your game to the next level.

What else have you got?

Well, you can't go to Wimbledon without having a summer cup,

-so...

-That's true.

-..we're going to make a summer cup.

We're going to turn that into a foam

and that's going to be served on the side.

So, with the summer cup, are you going to have some cucumber?

I'm going to make a jus with cucumber, lovage, coriander.

We're going to make a granita.

It's going to bring a real freshness to the dish.

You've got cucumbers. Have you got oyster leaves?

-Joery?

-Yeah? There's a few items there that we both are using.

Well, I'm really interested to see how the two dishes compare.

Using salmon as a fish course -

there's nothing ground-breaking about that.

He's got simple, classic ingredients.

He's going to elevate them in a contemporary way.

I really hope that he pulls that one off.

Returning chef Eddie is also hoping to score higher than yesterday

with his Wimbledon-inspired scallop dish.

-Eddie.

-Chef.

-How you doing?

-Very good, thanks.

-What's the name of your dish?

-Strawberries And Cream.

-Strawberries And Cream for a fish course?

-Absolutely.

Most iconic food eaten at Wimbledon - strawberries and cream.

This'll be a little bit warm with a cold element, as well.

So, for the dish, I've got seared scallops,

a warm scallop cream, strawberries - pickled, charred and raw, as well.

-Right.

-And then I'll do a scallop and strawberry tartare,

served on a nice wee buckwheat cracker.

So, the strawberries are one of the stars of the show?

-Yeah.

-What about the scallops?

-The second stars are the scallops.

You know yourself. These are Scottish scallops, as well.

-I've been trying to tick your boxes.

-Scottish scallops.

The scallop roes - you're not going to waste those.

That's one of the tastiest parts,

-if not THE tastiest part of a scallop, right?

-Absolutely.

-How will these be incorporated?

-I've dried these out.

I'm going to make a powder from them.

I'm going to season the scallops with their own roe,

then make a scallop cream as the cream element of the dish,

and then I've got some sea parsley. Again, a taste of the sea.

It sounds like you have a very simple dish in essence,

-but it could be something spectacular.

-Thank you.

Good luck to all of you,

-and I'm really looking forward to trying these.

-Thanks, Chef.

I think Eddie's taking a bit of a risk,

which you have to do in this competition.

Strawberries And Cream as a fish course?

If he pulls this one off, it could be a real match-winner.

So, Michael's got big expectations for us.

It's not like I don't think he doesn't want to give

the nines or tens out, it's just we need to make it.

You can tell he wants to give out the high scores,

but the food just hasn't been good enough.

We have to work hard for high scores here, boys, really.

Yesterday, Tommy impressed Michael with his presentation,

but was marked down for the execution of his dish.

Today, he's striving for perfection with his fish course, Murray Mound.

Got a lot of stuff going on here, so, really pushing myself.

He begins by preparing the cure for his salmon -

a mix of salt, fennel and dill,

which he hopes will give the fish a firm texture.

Right behind.

Next, he juices red cabbage for his caviar...

..which he drops into cold oil to create round balls.

-Hi, Tommy. How are we getting on?

-Struggling a little bit with this.

-This is the red cabbage caviar.

-Right.

You see it's just kind of sticking in the bottle there.

Definitely got the purple colour for Wimbledon.

-Is that all you were after, or...?

-No, it's got to taste good, as well.

-So, can I have a taste?

-Yeah, course you can.

-Yeah, interesting.

-Yeah?

Just been in to see Tommy.

He's making his red cabbage caviar. Got a lovely purple colour.

I'll tell you what - the flavour's OK, as well.

Last year, Eddie didn't make it through to the judge's chamber,

and after failing to hit the brief yesterday,

he's hoping his Wimbledon-themed fish dish,

Strawberries And Cream, will give him greater success.

He's serving strawberries in five different ways -

a tartare, a strawberry top dressing

and as charred, pickled and raw strawberries.

Strawberries there, isn't it?

Finally, two courses in,

and somebody's doing strawberries for Wimbledon.

Next, he starts work on his scallop cream.

Having removed the roe, he cooks the scallops with thyme,

white wine, dried scallop roe and cream...

..before blending and aerating the mixture.

Are you not concerned that the cream is going to be too creamy

for the texture of the scallops?

It's keeping it light with the scallops

without it getting too heavy.

Joery hopes that learning from his mistakes yesterday

will reap rewards for his dish, Who Remembers 2nd?

a homage to Wimbledon's defeated finalists.

Think I'm on schedule, but you know what happened with the first course.

I thought I was on schedule, as well, and something got missed,

so I'm going to have to give the full focus here

for the full time cos otherwise it's going to be a disaster again

and I don't want that to happen.

Joery's dish centres on mackerel, which he's serving two ways -

a charred fillet and in a pate called a rillettes,

which he's flavouring with a spicy Malaysian sambal.

Next, he prepares a star anise oil before filleting his fish.

-So, Joery, why are you using mackerel, then?

-For me, summer.

I mean, I went back to my youth

and mackerel was actually the first fish I ever caught.

I mean, it's an embrace of summer for me.

Out in Bangor, where I live,

the guys get out on the rocks with their fishing rods,

and they catch the mackerel there, there and then.

So, it's an underrated fish.

To find out more about the mackerel at the heart of his dish,

Joery's returned home to Bangor

where the fish can be found from early summer

before leaving to spawn in warmer waters.

He's meeting Brian Meharg, MBE, a local fisherman and tour operator.

-Hi, Brian. How are you?

-Very well. Nice to see you, Joery.

Every summer, Brian takes boatloads of tourists

out into the bay to see the fish.

When the old mackerel come into Belfast Lough,

it just brings life into the whole area.

It's been a long time since I've been catching mackerel,

so how are we going to catch those mackerels?

We're just going to use rods and feathers.

And is it, then, the feather, when it's in the water,

is that going to look like a little fish?

You have to move it up and down, make it look alive,

cos if you keep it still, you'll not catch.

Mackerel can grow up to 22 inches in length

and travel in shoals stretching up to 20 miles.

So, you use your thumb. Just let it go down nice and gently.

-Just keep doing that.

-That looks like hard work to me.

Oh, we've caught one, Joery, I'm sorry to tell you.

We have a fish coming.

There we are, for the menu.

-I don't think we're going to...

-Oh, my goodness!

The fish is prized for its nutrients

and is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids.

I hope I'm going to be exhausted from catching a lot of mackerel.

Wave it up and down, make it look alive.

Just move it up and down like this?

So, it is actually skill, isn't it, rather than...?

-I think I have something, Brian.

-That's good. I'll keep out of it.

-I caught one!

-Nobody panic!

Yeah, that's not too bad. That'll do for the menu.

I think I've got another one here, Brian.

Oh, great job. That's more than me.

How come you're catching all the fish?

I think it's beginners' luck.

When I think of summer, I think of mackerel for the simple reason

that my first fish ever caught was a mackerel

on the beach in the middle of summer,

so, summer and mackerel, it's one and one - it's easy.

In the kitchen, Eddie is working on two of the strawberry elements

for his dish, Strawberries And Cream -

a strawberry top dressing

and strawberry soaked in a savoury syrup.

You've got a lot going on there again.

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

He's heating strawberries

in a smoked black pepper port and dull seaweed syrup,

which he hopes will counteract the sweetness of the strawberries

without overpowering them.

-Hi, Eddie.

-Chef, how's it going?

I'm good, thanks. How are you doing? What stage are you at?

Just getting together, getting my strawberries together.

This is my strawberry port.

So, you want it to be quite subtle?

This'll all depend on the strawberries.

So, you're adjusting this seasoning

-according to how sweet the strawberries are?

-Absolutely.

-OK.

-What have we got in here?

-This is the strawberry tops.

It's just going to be dressed around the plate, as well.

These two components are probably the boldest flavours in the dish.

They're critical. If you don't get these balances right...

Absolutely. Down to the finish.

Two points behind the others,

Joery is under pressure to perfect all the components

for his Malaysian-inspired mackerel dish,

Who Remembers 2nd?

Do you think your Asian influence

is going to tie in with Wimbledon and a British summer?

Because Wimbledon is such a global sports event,

I want to incorporate a bit of world cuisine in it.

Do you think the diners will get that through your dish?

I think they will.

After charring his mackerel fillets,

he turns to the element he hopes will add freshness to the dish -

slices and rings of cucumber, compressed in a cucumber juice.

-What's the name of your dish again, Joery?

-Who Remembers 2nd?

-You not last, mate, no?

-Ooh! It's not going to last long.

With time running out, he returns to the spicy accompaniment

for his mackerel rillettes.

-Hi, Joery.

-Hi, Paul.

-How are you getting on?

-I'm grand. I'm flying, here.

I can smell spices. What have we got here?

A sambal - it's a Malaysian chilli paste.

Is it ready to taste, or not quite?

I hope you like it spicy cos I think it's still quite fierce.

-Well, what do you think?

-There's a bit of heat.

-HE LAUGHS

-I like it spicy.

Not too spicy that it overpowers the fish, but spicy's good.

Tommy is working on the sushi-inspired element

of his refined picnic dish, Murray Mound.

After removing his salmon from its cure,

he prepares to confit it in a water bath.

So, Tommy, you're making sushi, then?

Well, not so much sushi -

I'm going to confit it at a low temperature.

I'm going to keep some of it just cured, quite raw.

Next, he moves on to his sorbet, flavoured with grated horseradish.

In a nod to Wimbledon,

Tommy is also making a summer herb jus

using coriander, lovage and cucumber.

What am I most worried about?

The sorbet not setting, the salmon not being ready in time,

the granita not being ready in time.

-So, everything!

-HE LAUGHS

First to plate up is Eddie

who's hoping for a higher score today

with his unusual take on the Wimbledon favourite,

strawberries and cream.

So, Eddie, you think you've got enough going on?

Do you think you've too much going on?

Well, this is the thing - it's about getting the balance, isn't it?

He starts by plating sliced strawberries

and his sliced scallop topped with dried roe.

He roasts strawberries with a blowtorch and adds,

along with his compressed strawberries.

-So, how are you looking for time there, Eddie?

-Tick-tock.

He deep-fries buckwheat crackers

made from toasted buckwheat and tapioca flour

and, at the last moment, decides to add an extra element -

roasted buckwheat mixed with scallop roe.

What is that you're plating up now, Eddie?

A little bit of the roasted buckwheat.

As well as doing the cracker,

I wanted a wee bit on there for the starch, too.

I saw Michael's eyes light up

when he saw the actual fresh roe sitting on the scallops,

so I thought, "You know what?

"Let's dice them up and roll them through."

He plates toasted scallops and tops with borage flowers and herbs.

-Eddie.

-Chef.

-You're due to pass. Are you far off?

Coming up to you now.

Then his strawberry and scallop tartare,

his strawberry top dressing

and finally, his aerated scallop cream.

-A lot to do at the end there, Eddie.

-Absolutely.

Gentlemen, does it look like a taste of summer?

-It's definitely bright. Looks good.

-It looks very inviting.

-Shall we do that straightaway?

-Let's go, Chef.

Happy with the cooking of the scallop?

I am, Chef.

You want it to be at room temperature?

It certainly is not room temperature compared to the cold element,

so I wanted that to sort of contrast through.

For me, they're too raw. It's a cooked scallop.

You want a bit of temperature in there.

So, that was the buckwheat wafer

with the tartare of scallop, strawberry -

and are you getting all those flavours?

I'm getting the black pepper at the end. I got the dulse at the start.

Do you think the scallop is lost in the strawberry a bit?

This is more a strawberry dish than a scallop dish.

-Are you happy with the texture of the buckwheat?

-Yeah.

Did you want it to be soft and yielding

or did you want it to be crunchy?

I toasted it off first so that it allows it to crunch.

-I don't think it needs to be there.

-I don't think so, either.

So, strawberries and scallops dressed with strong flavours.

Do you think those have overpowered or enhanced the dish?

I'm pretty happy with it.

What would you give your Strawberries And Cream out of ten?

Chef, knowing that you are a hard score master,

I'd be humble and go for a seven again,

but I would like to see an eight.

-Well, boys...

-How did you get on in there?

Asked plenty of questions, no reactions.

I thought the scallop was a little bit undercooked,

-but I don't know if that's what you were going with. Was it?

-No.

Next to plate up is Joery with his Malaysian-inspired dish,

Who Remembers 2nd?

a tribute to Wimbledon's defeated finalists.

Joery begins with a yoghurt and aniseed cream,

followed by his compressed cucumber.

He adds a quenelle of his fiery mackerel rillettes

and pickled cucumber slices.

So, I'm just going to give the mackerel, here, a light blowtorch.

He plates his mackerel fillet, then pickled kumquats,

and a salad of baby bok choy, oyster leaves,

spring onions and coriander.

-You ready for the pass?

-20 seconds, Chef.

He adds a cucumber sauce and cucumber flower

and a spicy foam made with soy, chilli and kaffir lime leaf.

He finishes with fried black rice.

So, the big question is, Who Remembers 2nd?

The even bigger question is, is this going to give you first place?

If this gives me first place, I'll be happy.

-So, that's a yes, then?

-That's a yes, indeed.

Gentlemen, what do we think?

Looks stunning. Looks very fresh, very vibrant.

-You ready to do that, Joery?

-Yes, indeed.

It's not about the winning,

it's about the taking part - is that right?

-No, it's about the winning.

-OK. I'm glad you said that.

It's beautiful, isn't it?

It's a nice little dish.

HE LAUGHS

It's definitely little.

The mackerel - how is that cooked for you?

It's juicy. Skin is crispy.

-Very subtle, smoky.

-Yeah.

I like that. I'm going in for seconds.

Is the heat content of the sambal

and the rillettes just the way you'd like?

You get that burn in your throat,

but it doesn't kill any of the other items on the plate.

-That wouldn't be good.

-No.

-For me, that's not too strong.

-No. I thought it was fantastic.

Would the judges get the story from this plate alone?

I'm not sure if they'd get the link with Wimbledon,

but they'd get the taste of summer, and that's the brief.

But the title is Who Remembers 2nd?

which is linked directly to Wimbledon.

What are you going to score this dish?

-A high eight.

-That's a nine, then.

Hello, Chef.

Well, Michael doesn't give anything away.

-What did you think of it?

-It was perfect.

-Yeah?

-It was lovely.

I think you've got to be pleased with that, mate.

Tommy is last to plate up with his sushi-inspired picnic dish,

Murray Mound, a nod to Andy Murray's love of Japanese cuisine.

So, you're not actually making real sushi, then?

No, I just wanted almost just a little nudge towards Andy Murray

and sushi, you know. So, instead of using wasabi,

-I'm using horseradish, so you still get that wasabi flavour.

-Yeah.

For his sushi-inspired element,

he wraps salmon tartare in cucumber ribbons.

-Is that cured salmon again, too?

-Yeah, this is the salmon tartare.

Just a little bit of raw salmon.

Well, it's raw. It's just slightly cured.

He chars his confit salmon and plates,

followed by an avocado puree

and his buttermilk and horseradish sorbet.

Next, his compressed and pickled cucumbers,

the red cabbage caviar,

and a salad of oyster leaves, micro coriander and mouli spaghetti.

He bottles his herb jus,

puts lovage and coriander granita into a cup

and finishes with a summer cup foam.

Can't have Wimbledon without a summer cup, boys, you know?

Just to make it look a bit cheesy, we'll stick some umbrellas in there.

-Do the umbrellas help if rain stops play?

-Exactly.

Gentlemen, what do we think of the presentation?

Nice. I mean, it's a good idea - a picnic.

You know, who doesn't like a picnic in the summer?

Will we take it through?

Now, the summer cup, are you happy with how this has turned out?

With the granita, I think it really works, you know?

I think it's definitely refreshing.

Ooh, that's sharp.

Let's talk about the sorbet, to begin with.

That's exactly how I wanted it.

I didn't want it to be spicy on the tongue.

It complements everything else that's on there very well.

I think it helps you to give you that feeling of summer.

I think you wanted to use red cabbage

-for the purple colour, right?

-It is for the colour,

but I liked the idea of serving caviar

with a high-end picnic, I suppose.

Moving on to the salmon. You cooked this sous-vide?

We have cured it, there, as well,

so it's got a bit of flavour going through it.

What do you think? Maybe a bit on the raw side?

I've just tried the cucumber roll.

-Are you pleased with how that's turned out?

-Yeah.

And that's my little nudge to sushi.

The tartare is lovely, but I think it just could be something special.

Yeah.

-What would you score this?

-I'd like to say that's about a nine.

Why is it not a ten?

That salmon could have been cooked a little bit longer.

That was tough.

There was one or two things there I thought,

"Maybe that's too much on the plate."

I felt the salmon could have been cooked maybe a minute longer.

Just a couple wee bits like Joery said,

but other than that, mate, spot-on.

Could go either way.

I could be sitting in your position by the end of this.

If I don't get a good enough score, then it's going to be hard.

I'm happy with the dishes that I've put up,

so all I can do is wait.

-How are you doing, chefs?

-Very good, Chef.

Well, I'll get straight to the scores.

Eddie, I'm going to start with your dish...

Visually, this dish looked fresh, vibrant, and summery.

I liked the blowtorched strawberries.

They had a good, savoury taste.

I think the scallops were cooked perfectly.

The buckwheat cracker - it had a nice, subtle flavour

and it added a good bit of texture to the dish...

..but...

..I think the addition of the extra buckwheat

really let the dish down.

It was all unnecessary.

I thought the strawberry top dressing was a good idea,

but I didn't really get any flavour from it.

Overall, the end dish was far too busy.

Joery, your dish...

You definitely hit the brief this time with a taste of summer.

The flavours in the dish were subtle.

You showed a very skilful use of spicing.

The sambal, I think, was a touch of inspiration.

I thought it was fantastic.

However...

..I'm struggling to see the story in your presentation.

Even just a little card

explaining your inspiration behind the dish would be enough.

Tommy, on to your dish...

I could picture myself on Murray Mound

on a summer's day, watching Andy win another championship,

eating your fish course.

I thought the summer cup was very light and refreshing.

The sorbet was delicious.

Just the right amount of heat from the horseradish.

However...

..your confit salmon, it was slightly underdone.

I didn't see the cucumber roll really representing the sushi.

I thought it was tasty, but it didn't make me think of sushi.

I'm going to go on to the scores.

Eddie...

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

..seven.

Joery...

..I'm giving you a score...

..of eight.

Tommy...

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

..of nine.

Next course is the main course.

You're all going to have to be at the top of your game.

See you tomorrow.

-Well done.

-Well done, boys.

Feels great to get a nine. You know, I'm absolutely delighted with it.

Kicking myself a little bit because I knew,

as soon as I bit into that salmon, it was slightly under.

With two courses down, Tommy is now leading with 16 points,

ahead of Eddie on 14 and Joery with 13.

Pressure's on, now, too, like.

I really have to pull it out of the bag tomorrow.

I'm kicking myself, there.

Adding that extra bit of roasted buckwheat -

that's why I'm sitting here with a lower score today.

There's still plenty to play for. Two courses to go.

They didn't build Rome in one day, so I'm going to go after Eddie first

and once I'm ahead of him, then we're going to go after Tommy.

Pressure on tomorrow for the main.

Pressure on me to drop points, isn't it?

THEY LAUGH