Final Dessert Great British Menu

It's the national finals...

HE WHISTLES

..of Great British Menu...

-Sweating a little bit.

-You want to give it everything.

..as the eight regional champions go head-to-head...

-Pretty stressed.

-Yeah, tell me about it.

..for a place at this year's glorious Taste of Summer Banquet...

Fingers crossed.

..celebrating 140 years of the iconic Wimbledon Championships,

the oldest and most prestigious tennis tournament in the world.

Yesterday...

Bit smoky there, Pip.

I feel like I've turned up at the wrong party, here.

I'm the only one without a barbecue.

..the chefs went all out with their mains.

If I don't make this one, I think I might have run out of chances.

Every man for himself now, yeah.

I'm nervous right now. Very.

And with the standard so high,

both Selin and Michael achieved near-perfect scores...

I can reveal that we had a tie-break situation.

..with the judges crowning Michael's grass-infused ox tongue

as the winner.

I can't believe I won.

Today, it's the dessert course...

-Last chance saloon for both of us.

-I'm nervous.

..and the final chance for a place on the banquet menu.

It's the last course, you want to give it everything.

But with all eight chefs desperate to impress...

Probably going to be some blood, sweat and tears happening.

..who will secure the closing dish?

The winning chef cooking the dessert

at this year's banquet at Wimbledon is...

Today, the chefs will be cooking their dessert courses,

and they're all vying to secure the last spot on the Wimbledon banquet.

It is the last chance today, so,

as much as it's going to be all, sort of, fun,

I want to beat you all.

HE LAUGHS

To get their dessert through,

the chefs will need to impress the highly critical panel of judges -

Oliver Peyton, Andi Oliver and Matthew Fort.

We have chosen three amazing dishes.

I mean, that is an abundance of riches.

Yesterday, the judges selected

Michael Bremner's The Grass Is Greener main course

after a nail-biting tie-break with Selin Kiazim.

As fraught tension goes, yesterday...

-Oh!

-Oh, my word.

You could have cut the air with a knife.

We had Selin's tears, we had Michael, head in hands.

It was actually pretty dramatic.

Today is dessert course.

It's the last stop for all of them.

This is, you know, last chance saloon,

so hopefully, I can be up there,

at least in the top three, hopefully winning.

I really like my dessert, actually.

It's got great meaning behind it,

so, yeah, fingers crossed that I can pull it off.

Today, the judges will each mark the chefs' dishes out of ten,

with the highest scorer winning the final place on the banquet menu.

Good morning, chefs, for the final time.

-CHEFS:

-Morning.

Well, yesterday was a pretty emotional day.

Michael, has your victory of yesterday sunk in yet?

It hasn't registered at all.

I'm just getting this week out of the way,

and I'm going to celebrate after today.

Selin, you came so close yesterday.

I know you were deeply disappointed,

but you have shown an extraordinary ability

to lift your dishes through every single stage of this competition.

Fingers crossed, I do better this time on that.

Well, chefs, today we are looking for something to complete the menu,

something light, delicate.

We are all really looking forward to trying your dessert courses,

so, good luck, we will see you all later.

Good luck, chefs.

Good luck.

The first group of chefs to cook are Selin Kiazim,

representing London and the South East...

..Scottish champion Michael Bremner...

-Good luck.

-Good luck.

-Good luck.

-Good luck.

..and Pip Lacey from the Central Region.

Both Pip and Michael have got a dish on to this year's banquet menu,

but after narrowly missing out to Michael yesterday,

Selin is still yet to win a course.

Last day, today, guys.

-How are we feeling?

-I'm nervous.

-SELIN:

-Everyone's really gunning for it.

This is last chance.

Probably going to be some blood, sweat and tears happening.

Helping the judges choose the dessert today

is tennis star Annabel Croft.

A former British number one,

she was junior Wimbledon champion in 1984

and is now a sports commentator,

having worked on the coverage of Wimbledon for over a decade.

Hi, there.

Hiya, nice to meet you. Thanks for coming, my love.

-This is Oliver.

-Hello.

-Hi.

-This is Matthew.

Hello. Very good to see you.

Very nice to meet you.

-Thank you.

-I hope you've got a sweet tooth.

I have got a little bit of a sweet tooth.

I always like something a little bit sweet after a meal.

-Well, we've got eight courses.

-Oh, my goodness. OK.

I'm ready!

How old were you when you discovered tennis?

Do you know, I discovered tennis on a family holiday in Spain,

and I had never picked up a racket before,

and I have to say, from that day,

I was absolutely hooked.

You are a former British number one.

You were very young when you were excelling at tennis.

Was it difficult to find that kind of focus and dedication

-at such a young age?

-It wasn't, actually.

I kind of had my heart set on playing at Wimbledon,

and you just know what you want and...

Yeah, you are not thinking of it as a sacrifice,

you're just going after your dream.

Did Wimbledon live up to that dream, when you finally got there?

I think Wimbledon is the most special tournament in the world.

Every child who ever picks up a racket

that wants to be a professional tennis player

dreams of playing at Wimbledon,

more than any other tournament.

The brief this year is to celebrate summer

and also 140 years of Wimbledon.

Now, does that suggest anything to you?

Well, something to do with strawberries.

Something a little bit special.

I think, today, you are going to get lots of dishes with finesse,

lots of strawberries, and really, truly, some amazing desserts.

I can't wait.

Pip Lacey is first to serve her dessert.

After her triumphant start to the week with her winning starter,

she's come last in both the fish and main courses.

To be in the elite that have done two dishes at the banquet

would just be a massive achievement. To do two would be amazing.

So, Pip, you didn't get a great score yesterday,

but this is one of your stronger dishes.

Are you excited or nervous?

A bit of both. Sort of ready to finish the week

and want to finish on a high.

She's had an interesting week, Pip.

She's got this beautiful tomato consomme

that's starting the whole banquet off

that's so elegant and fresh.

She was first on day one,

-and then she's come bottom for the last two days.

-Oh!

And to come bottom twice is a little bit embarrassing.

So, she's got to pick her momentum up.

Yeah. So, I think, today,

she's very determined to get back up

on to the top of the pile, for sure.

Pip's dessert, 'Why The Pineapple?',

is a tribute to the pineapple

on the top of the Wimbledon Men's Singles trophy.

She's serving variations of the fruit,

including pineapple sorbet and charred pineapple,

alongside a coriander semifreddo.

In the regional heats,

veteran judge Richard Bainbridge

didn't think the flavours quite balanced

and scored the dish an eight.

I love the freshness of that pineapple sorbet,

but I thought the coriander flavour in the semifreddo was lost.

When it came to the judges,

she improved the execution of the dish,

and earned an almost perfect score.

I absolutely loved this dessert.

I seem to recall I wanted to give it a round of applause.

It was a beautiful pudding.

It looked fantastic.

The technical skill in every element of it was there.

There was also just that element of surprise and vivacity.

It really uplifted me.

It was beautiful.

Today, Pip's determined to put the last two days behind her

and end the week on another high.

So, Pip, how did you get on with your dessert in regionals?

Yeah, I got really good, good marks for it.

Tens, and I think one nine.

I take it you haven't made any changes, then?

No. Nothing.

There's a bit of pressure because I want to do just as well or better.

So, fingers crossed, might get another one through.

Pip starts by placing chunks of barbecued and fresh pineapple

on top of her coriander semifreddo.

-How do you feel, Pip?

-Yeah, I'm just conscious of the time now.

Next, she adds quenelles of pineapple sorbet.

What's that you've got going in there?

This is a rum and pineapple punch.

It's just to start the judges off,

so they like the rest of your desserts.

She pours her punch into bottles engraved with the date

when the Singles trophy was first used.

It's a cocktail in there. Result.

She adds pineapple crisps and puts everything into wooden boxes,

before turning to her special presentation.

What's going to happen here?

I'm just going to put the dry ice into the box.

Oh, so the sort of scent of the pineapple comes out over,

-whilst you pour it over?

-Yeah.

That's cool, that.

She finishes with coriander crisps.

Thank you very much.

Looks incredible, Pip.

-MICHAEL:

-It does look incredible. Well done.

-Cheers. Woo.

Wow.

-Ba-boom.

-Ah!

-Wow.

It's even more beautiful.

Isn't it pretty?

This says, "Welcome to the Royal Box.

"You are cordially invited to pour your punch over the golden grill

"and the pineapple in celebration of the Gentlemen's Singles trophy."

That is amazing.

Do you feel as though you did that as good as you did in the regionals?

I feel like I was more calm doing it,

so that should hopefully come through.

I've never seen a pudding quite like this.

I know. That's how I feel.

It's so detailed and it's so beautifully presented.

These little...

pineapple crisps...

-Oh, my goodness.

-..are gorgeous.

-Those are delicious.

Crisp. Light.

There seems to be a bit of a love-in going on down there.

-Yes.

-Delicious.

I think the semifreddo is the best I've done, so, yeah, happy.

I don't think that the semifreddo has got the same balance as before.

Might be. The coriander isn't as strong

and you need the coriander to counterbalance

the sweetness of the pineapple.

I'm a bit upset that the balance isn't there

because when it came out,

I was still thoroughly excited.

The crisps on the top were amazing and toasty and gorgeous,

and I thought I was going to dig in

and find what I found before, and I didn't.

The dividing line between triumph and not quite triumph

is, actually, a very, very small one.

I feel a bit sorry for Pip,

because I was expecting to give this dish ten.

She just hasn't reproduced in the same way as in the heats.

Next to plate up is Selin

representing London and the South-east.

Having just missed out on winning the main course,

she's pinning all her hopes on today.

Yesterday was a complete roller-coaster of emotion

and, you know, it was a really tough day.

I think it's a day that I'll certainly never forget.

Selin's original dish got the lowest marks

of any of the finalists' desserts from the judges.

This is a weird little number, isn't it?

This pudding is a remarkable agglomeration

of some singularly unpleasant textures and flavours.

In the hope of transforming her fortunes,

Selin's created a completely new dessert for the judges today.

I think the judges should enjoy it.

Well, hopefully, they will more than they did my last dessert, anyway.

Selin's new dish...

..centres on a white peach and raspberry jelly,

served with a peach sorbet,

raspberry and rose water sauce, almond shard, and a peach Bellini.

The Venus Rosewater is the Ladies' Championship trophy.

I really wanted to do something that honoured

the female greats of Wimbledon.

Very clever, Selin.

Even though it was an unmitigated disaster the first time,

that doesn't mean she won't be able to pull...

OK, she wasn't put off,

she didn't get beaten down by what was happening?

-No.

-When Selin changes something, it is always for the better.

If she shows her customary intelligence, I must say,

she could leap from zero to hero.

In a strange way, I feel like

I quite prefer doing a new dessert today

cos I'm kind of just going into this blind.

I really hope that I can execute this perfectly

and see if I've got a chance of getting there with you guys.

Selin starts by filling her champagne bottles

with peach and rose Bellini.

Next, she coats the tops of her glasses

with freeze-dried raspberries.

-They get a bottle each?

-Yeah.

She fills jugs with raspberry and rose water sauce.

Do you find it quite hard to put the rose water in, to make it subtle,

cos it's quite strong sometimes?

It's a really lovely rose extract that I've used

and I think it's a nice subtle touch

and really complements the...

..the peaches and the raspberry.

She serves the centrepiece of her dish - the vanilla muhallebi,

a Turkish panna cotta topped with jelly.

What's inside the jelly?

Poached peach and some raspberries.

She scatters freeze-dried raspberries

in crystallised rose blossom,

before adding her peach sorbet.

Finally, a caramelised almond filo shard,

topped with more freeze-dried raspberries.

Off you go.

How does that feel?

Yeah, really good. I'm really happy with it, actually.

-It looked class.

-Yeah.

-Wow.

-Bribery and corruption.

Yeah, well, can't have enough of that.

-Yeah.

-How do you feel about Bellinis?

I love Bellinis,

and there's something a little bit special about a Bellini.

It always feels like it's a special occasion.

Oh, isn't this lovely?

What fun!

-Cheers.

-Cheers, this is lovely.

What a treat.

-Oh, that's yum.

-That is good.

Oh, it's gorgeous.

It all came out exactly as I wanted it to.

So, yeah, fingers crossed they just enjoy the flavours of it.

Oh, wow. That's beautiful.

It's creamy. You've got the lovely sharpness from that raspberry sauce,

and it's not too sweet.

That raspberry sauce is absolutely beautiful

because it is so fresh and it just complements the jelly,

which is so delicious.

I think that what we have here is a really perfect-textured jelly.

Mm.

It just hangs upon the tongue and then dissolves.

Really lovely sharpness to that sorbet, that I love.

All of the singular components work really nicely.

Rose bud is one of those things that, you know,

-it is like saffron or something like that.

-Like lavender.

You know, you have just got to keep the tap pretty much off on it.

So many different vibrant flavours coming through.

It's really fresh, fruity.

It's a tough round, this, already. We're only two dishes down!

This is one of the most beautiful puddings I've ever had.

It all just seems to balance and seems to work.

What Selin does so well is she has that sort of ability

to sort of meander through flavours

and then you sort of just end up in this real place of joy.

Yeah. I like that about her.

I think there is a sort of whimsical nature to it

that's light and cheering, which I'm really enjoying.

It has that sort of little waft of breeze, the warmth,

the sharpness, the clarity.

You two are not allowed any more alcohol, by the way. That is it.

I've cut you off.

Last to cook in this group is Scottish champion Michael Bremner,

who won the main course with his ox-tongue dish yesterday.

I'm feeling great, you know,

there is no doubt that me doing the main course at Wimbledon

for the banquet is an incredible feeling,

but I don't want it to cloud my judgment for today,

you know, I am very focused on today.

Like Selin, Michael's serving an entirely new dessert,

after failing to impress the judges in the regional heats

with his banana and pecan dish.

Banana is a very odd choice for a summer fruit.

It is a soft, mushy, not very attractive...

-It is not exciting, is it?

-It's not exciting. It's not even very nice.

Michael's new dessert, Back To Love, features a white chocolate parfait,

served with passion fruit and yoghurt sorbet and hibiscus jelly.

What's the relevance of passion fruit, then?

So this is things that I love, things that remind me of summer.

Passion fruit is very sort of fresh.

So I've called this dish Back To Love,

and I did a lot of research about why they call it love.

Some people say it's because when you walk into a match

and you're on 0-0, you've got love for each other.

-I'm not sure about that.

-Yeah.

Today he has completely changed his dessert,

because we didn't really like it before, did we?

It was bananas, and we weren't bananas for his bananas,

I have to tell you.

No. It was a little heavy and colourless and unappetising, really.

Now he has a completely new dish called Back To Love.

It's got white chocolate in it, it's got passion fruit in it,

and it's got hibiscus.

Interesting.

With all my other dishes, I sort of walked into it,

knowing what position I could be in

whereas with this one, I'm wide open,

which, you know,

potentially means it could be a killer or it could be a...

you know, on the other side.

Michael starts by plating his passion fruit pastilles

and adds golden honey to his plate.

Next, his white chocolate parfaits.

What's the biggest risk with it?

All of it.

The fact that I am willing to put myself out there,

to try and do something different,

you know, that's what matters to me.

He tops his parfaits with a sheet of hibiscus jelly...

It looks great,

I like the way you've done those really thin sheets.

..adds basil cress

and finishes with a quenelle of passion fruit and yoghurt sorbet.

Great. Thank you very much.

-All good?

-Relief.

-First three to finish.

ALL: Yes!

-Wow!

-Wow!

It looks more like an artefact than a pudding.

I am a sucker for shiny gold things.

I'm glad that's the last dish.

I'm happy with how it went out. I am over the moon.

The hibiscus sheet is just not working, sadly.

It's sticky.

I would be worried if I ate this red sheet

that I might end up with it stuck on my teeth.

The sorbet's so sharp.

I don't like it.

The trouble is that the sorbet just kills absolutely everything else.

-It sort of sears your taste buds.

-What are the gold bits?

-What is that?

-Passion fruit, like little pastilles.

-Passion fruit.

Oh, OK.

The white chocolate parfait is extremely dense,

and then the passion fruit on top of it is just too heavy.

I think that the parfait, the texture, may be a little bit dense.

Maybe the parfait has set a little bit too much.

It's like a brick.

You could take someone out with that.

That's just terrible, I'm sorry. I mean, it's just...

It's wrong on all sorts of levels.

There's no sense of balance about it.

There's no sense of joy, there's no sense of...

really, of pleasure about it.

I did notice you've eaten quite a lot of it, Matthew.

-I believe in forensic analysis.

-OK.

That requires a certain amount of tasting.

With the first three desserts served,

the judges are considering the calibre of the dishes so far.

Well, an interesting morning, I think.

We seem to have hit every part of the scale.

Do you think we've found our banquet dish yet?

I think there's one which certainly has banquet potential.

So, Annabel, are you ready for some more desserts?

-I am always ready for more dessert.

-Wow, you are a pro.

-I am.

The second group of chefs into the kitchen are Phil Carmichael,

representing Wales,

and Northern Ireland's Tommy Heaney.

-Good luck to you.

-Good luck, mate.

Both chefs have had a mixed week so far,

with none of their dishes making it on to the banquet menu.

Dessert course, last chance saloon for both of us.

It's the last course. You want to give it everything.

Guest judge Annabel Croft is keen to see how both chefs

are coping with the pressure of perfecting their final courses.

-Hi, Annabel. I'm Phil.

-Phil, nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-I'm Tommy.

-Hey, Tommy. How are you?

-Yeah. Nervous.

-How is it going?

-Stressed.

-I'm not, I'm all right.

THEY LAUGH

Not as stressful as playing at Wimbledon, I'm sure.

There is probably a lot of similarities building up.

I mean, tennis players have a lot of stress ahead of matches,

and they deal with it in different ways, and of course,

tennis matches are always about how you deal with the pressure.

Yeah. What has been your most memorable moment at Wimbledon?

It was winning Junior Wimbledon as... I think I was 17 or 18.

There's not many tennis courts in the world that you can hear,

like, a pin drop, because there is so much sort of tension

and excitement around the matches.

-Completely.

-Well, very best of luck.

-And I can't wait to try your puddings.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Both Phil and Tommy are hoping to win over the judges

with desserts featuring edible tennis balls.

I think they'll be looking for something fun, you know,

like, you know, Wimbledon is obviously a fun tournament.

So they will be looking to finish the banquet

with something fun, as well.

When it comes to the actual dessert,

-it's got to shout out summer, doesn't it?

-Yeah.

Returning finalist Phil is first to plate up his tennis-themed dessert.

It's his third time in the competition,

and he is more determined than ever to get a dish to the banquet.

If, heaven forbid, I don't get through to the banquet again

this time, yeah, I will be gutted.

I've just got to give everything.

-Three times, Phil has come in for the competition.

-Persistent.

-Very persistent.

-Yeah, you can't mark him down for not trying.

He is a great chef, he makes some beautiful food.

-So, high expectations?

-High expectations.

-OK.

-Phil, what is the dish?

-So, it's called Game, Set & Massive Mess,

which puts a smile on my face. When I put it up on the pass,

I was just grinning from ear to ear.

Phil's dish centres on a champagne mousse and jelly base,

topped with a tennis ball meringue,

filled with strawberries, cream and a summer cup jelly.

I love this dish. You know, it's fun,

you can really smash into it, meringue goes everywhere.

-Oh, so it's actually going to be a mess?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-Oh!

In the regional heats, the dish was a smash

with veteran judge Tom Aikens.

I love the surprise of the Eton mess inside the tennis bowl.

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

Game, Set & Massive Mess.

I like the name. A bit of humour in there.

It was a bit bonkers and then the more we made peace with that,

the more you enjoyed it. It kind of became quite delightful.

It was a nine, we all gave it nines.

After scoring so well with the judges in the regionals,

he's doing all he can to impress even more today.

I've made, like, a couple of minor presentation changes.

Hopefully, they'll still love it

after seeing everybody else's desserts.

Phil starts by sprinkling green hundreds and thousands

on top of his champagne mousse and jelly.

Next, he begins work on his tennis ball meringues.

So, what you got going on there, Phil?

So you got the sandpaper out, a bit of DIY, is it?

Yeah! Just going to give them a quick shave,

a quick sand and a polish.

They look great.

He fills the centre of his balls with Calvados cream,

adds strawberries,

another layer of cream, and cubes of summer cup jelly.

He places his balls on top of his jellies

and adds raspberries and crystallised basil leaves.

So what you got going on there, Phil?

-More tennis balls.

-Edible?

Edible, yeah. Edible tennis rackets, edible balls.

Just a bit of fun.

Puts a smile on my face.

OK.

-Happy?

-Yeah.

Just glad it's over with!

It'll be great.

There we go.

It's kind of wobbling in a pleasing manner.

I like a wobbly jelly.

Wow, I'm not sure about the green balls, which looks very artificial.

They're a bit too vivid.

Really fun. Yeah. I think that's what you were looking for, you know.

It's also quite technically challenging, as well,

to get all those bits and bobs right, the right consistency.

-Well done, mate.

-Stressed me out!

Ooh. See?

Ooh.

The jelly's nice.

-Inside? It is, isn't it?

-Mm, very nice.

-That's quite a delicious...

-Little number.

..little combination of things inside the tennis ball.

What's underneath here?

Is that...

-Is that the trifley bit, that wasn't a trifle?

-Mm.

The fruit in the bottom.

I think the champagne mousse is great.

Got a real...

real good flavour in there.

The only thing I don't like about it is the hundreds and thousands.

-That's just personal, cos I don't like them.

-OK.

They stick in my teeth.

I think this would provoke a great deal of laughter and ribaldry

if it went through to the banquet.

I'm just not convinced that it sums up

the sort of sophistication of Wimbledon.

It's a bit too sort of, well, Playschool.

Yeah.

I think the problem is there's too much going on.

-Yeah.

-Oh, no!

Yes, there's too much going on. Come on, Matthew.

You've got a double hit of cream here,

you've got the jelly, you've got the meringue,

you've got all these other bits and bobs.

I think what the whole thing is is terrifically good fun.

I think it's fun, but I can't see it at the banquet.

Listen, in the context of the banquet

and the dishes we've chosen so far,

I don't think this dish works.

Yes, Dr Killjoy!

That's me.

Next to serve his dessert is Northern Ireland's Tommy Heaney.

He came joint first with his starter course,

but hasn't fared as well in the last two days.

It would be a great feeling to go in and cook the dessert at the banquet.

I mean, I've done a lot of research into it,

so to actually cook at the banquet would be amazing.

I'm just going to give it all and hopefully it's enough.

So, Tommy Heaney is up next.

He's an interesting chef, Tommy.

He's a real fighter.

Tommy's a really great chef,

it's just when he gets hysterical with too many other things.

I get the impression he's got a real fire in his belly,

so he's going to want this a lot.

Like Phil, Tommy's pinning his hopes on a tennis-themed dessert,

centring on a tennis ball made out of white chocolate.

So would you say your dish is quite fun?

I think so. I mean, I enjoy it.

It kind of shouts out summer, you know,

with all the ingredients that are in it.

As well as his white chocolate tennis ball,

New Balls Please features strawberry and meringue

and an unusual basil sponge.

Lots of different elements, the strawberries going on there,

we've got, you know, fresh strawberries,

compressed strawberries,

charred strawberries, things like that.

And then, basil, because I love strawberries and basil,

-I just think it really works well.

-Yeah, yeah.

In the regional heats,

the judges felt the dish needed to be improved.

98% devoid of flavour.

It's a bit bland.

I've made a few little changes.

Originally, I had an elderflower cream.

They didn't like it, so I've changed it.

-What did you change it to?

-I'm going to do a lemon parfait instead.

So a bit of acidity in there.

Was that based on the feedback from the judges?

Yeah, you've got to play the game, so you've got to basically,

you know, do what you're told!

Tommy starts work on his turf-inspired presentation boxes.

He adds hazelnut crumb,

topped with strawberry powder.

-Burnt strawberries?

-Yeah, just little caramelised strawberries.

Next, basil gel and his basil sponge,

which he's made, controversially, in the microwave.

I've got a microwave sponge.

Sponge, OK. Why wouldn't you just make a normal sponge?

I don't know, I like it cos it's really light.

He plates strawberry clouds,

strawberry and elderflower champagne sorbet,

followed by meringue shards and basil microleaves.

-Hi, Selin.

-How you getting on, Tommy?

-Getting there.

Finally, he fetches his white chocolate tennis balls,

filled with his new lemon parfait, strawberry puree and basil gel.

What's with the fridges, Tommy?

Sure, it turns out that all the balls on centre court are chilled

-to 20 degrees...

-OK.

-..so it's just a little nudge on that.

Thank you.

Done and dusted, chief.

-That looked amazing.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

-Ah, yes.

-Ah, yes.

-Why don't we have a...?

-A peek inside the fridge?

OK. Ooh, wow.

There's some more balls in here.

-More balls!

-Can I offer you a ball?

-Yes, please.

-Tennis ball?

Thank you very much.

Wow, that's quite hefty.

Now, this one looks like a real tennis ball.

Well, it's missing the lines on the ball.

It certainly evokes a tennis ball.

I think presentation, you smashed the brief there, 100%.

Just screams Wimbledon summer.

Yeah, looks amazing.

Right, are we smashing this ball?

-It's really...

-Oh.

OK. Oh, there we go.

There we go.

Oh, no.

Not sure about that.

That's quite weird.

It's very basily and, do you know what, it tastes like pesto.

-It does.

-It's kind of clagging my mouth up.

Got a bit of bad moss on the court here.

-That's not good.

-Got a really horrible...

..sort of chemical thing happens when you put it in your mouth.

I have to be honest, I'm aiming for the strawberries.

Well, there's compressed strawberry, there's natural strawberry,

there's strawberry sorbet.

I mean, I want the kitchen sink back cos I think that'd taste better.

I've made the changes that they've asked me to do so...

hopefully I've done enough.

This is the Armageddon of puddings for me.

I mean, it is just an absolute, total disaster.

He's managed to put together a whole series of

badly executed tastes

into an absolute catastrophe of a dish.

I'm feeling really sorry for him now.

He's put in so much work to the presentation.

It's actually just horrible,

-I can't even find a better way to describe it.

-Oh, no!

I think the best thing that could happen to this dish is

-put it out of its misery.

-Lay it to rest!

-Lay it to rest.

With only three chefs left to cook and only one spot left on the menu,

the judges are considering the desserts so far.

We have been blessed with three amazing courses

so far from this banquet.

Each one of them is delicate, beautiful looking,

that's what we need in the pudding.

There's still time, there's a lot to be excited about.

We've got incredible chefs in that kitchen.

And there's enough talent up there to provide us with

at least one or two pleasant surprises.

You've got room for three more desserts?

I'm definitely planning a very long run tomorrow

around the park to make up for it!

The final three chefs to cook their desserts are

Ellis Barrie from the North West,

the North East's Tommy Banks

and Tom Brown, representing the South West.

Best of luck. Good luck, Tom.

Good luck, mate.

Each of them is hoping to impress with a dish inspired

by memories of where they grew up.

So we're the last group of the day. Have you seen anything yet that

-you're worried about?

-I think there's definitely room for

one of us to sneak in at the end.

-You're hoping that'll be you, then?

-Of course I'm hoping it's me!

First to serve is Michelin-starred Tommy Banks.

He's already won a spot at the banquet, cooking the fish course

for the second year running,

but he's hoping to go one step further,

and make Great British Menu history.

I'd love to get my dessert to the banquet.

Got one dish there already, I could have a nice little break around

main course time and cook dessert. That'd be perfect for me.

So I'm gunning for it all the way.

Having grown up on his parents' farm, Tommy's selected

an unusual ingredient as the central flavour of his dessert.

I'm doing a dessert around hay, basically.

I always think about, you know,

late summer nights and sort of the sweet smell of hay.

I've never really had hay flavour in a dessert before,

so sounds intriguing.

I've given them something alternative here and hopefully they enjoy it.

-Hay! There's only one way to find out.

-Oh!

Tommy's using hay to infuse an aerated custard,

served with a filo disc, topped with meadowsweet cheesecake,

raspberries and cream cheese ice cream.

The dessert Hay Time scored highly in the regional heats

and surprised veteran judge Jeremy Lee.

I thought the flavours in your dessert were beautiful, interesting.

How does hay sound to you?

I'm intrigued by hay. Hay custard?

What I do remember about this dish is that it was delicious.

It really was a thing of great beauty.

I feel like we're in for a real surprise here.

-Yeah.

-Well, I hope you're not disappointed.

Not only is Tommy using hay in the cooking of his dessert,

he's also featuring it in his presentation.

-What you up to there, Tommy?

-I'm just spraying these hay wreathes

with this hay perfume I've made.

Just want it to be subtle but I want them to recognise

the sweet smell of hay in the air,

like there is on a warm summer's evening.

Tommy starts by placing raspberry puree into the bottom of his bowls.

He adds fresh raspberries to his filo discs and pipes on

meadowsweet cheesecake, followed by a raspberry puree.

-What's that there, Tommy?

-So this is a hay custard.

You want some?

Oh, yeah, you definitely get the hay through it, don't you?

He places his filo disc on top...

-Looks really pretty, that, Tom.

-Yeah, that looks bang on, that.

..adds a quenelle of cream cheese ice cream...

..and finishes with a sprinkling of dried meadowsweet.

Thank you.

Yeah. Cool, lovely, thanks very much.

-Cheers.

-Well done, mate.

Thanks very much.

Ooh!

Ah, yes.

That is a strong smell.

You wouldn't want to have allergies, would you?

THEY LAUGH

Just so intrigued to get stuck into that.

It's just something I've never had before.

I think it will be one way or the other, to be honest.

If you take it away from the plate, it looks frankly boring.

The cream cheese ice cream's lovely.

-Mmm.

-It's really smooth and silky and sort of subtle.

I like the flavour, it's delicious.

Tastes are really delicate.

Yeah. And the texture's really nice, very light.

The hay custard, underneath,

is a lot lighter than it looks, isn't it?

I've never had anything like this before.

Everything in that bowl you can taste,

absolutely everything and it's beautiful, you know. I love that.

I think the secret to this actually is that little filo disc...

-It's lovely.

-..because that separates the two flavours.

-Well, it stops it just being a bowl of mush.

-Yes.

I'd love to stand here and say how rubbish it is,

but no, it's fantastic.

Do you want any more, Tom?

There is a real taste of summer to this dish.

I just worry that it lacks impact...a bit.

-In terms of its presentation?

-Yeah.

I don't think it lacks impact, personally I think it looks good.

Just has a sort of delicate, sweet beauty to it

that I really, absolutely adore.

It's definitely a contender for me.

The penultimate chef to serve is Cornish born Tom Brown,

representing the South West.

He scored highly earlier in the week,

just missing out on both his starter and fish courses,

but hasn't yet managed to get a dish to the banquet.

I know the judges like my stuff,

because I've been very, very close a couple of times now.

I'd really, really love to get the dessert there.

If I get there and it's the last thing the diners eat,

then I'm going to be unbelievably proud.

Tom Brown I guess is the most consistent chef in this competition.

He has been there or thereabouts all the time, and he almost got through.

Tom is one of those chefs you just long...

you long for him to succeed.

He's come so close twice and you just feel that last little nudge,

net cord, and he'd be over and it'll be a winner.

Tom's dessert, Sevi & Leti, is Cornish for strawberries and cream.

It's a nostalgic take on an ice cream sandwich, served with

Wimbledon-inspired strawberries and a sparkling wine jelly.

It got the joint highest score from the judges in the regional heats

and impressed veteran judge Michael O'Hare.

I thought this was a really classy dish.

It really hit the brief,

and it was definitely a taste of summer.

I like the idea of it. It conjures up a nice image in my head.

For me it invoked a lot of childhood nostalgia, but actually

it's a very adult, grown-up, quite sophisticated dessert.

He's ticking all the boxes in terms of the brief.

Let's just hope he does it as well as he did last time.

Tom's working on the summery jelly which will accompany his dish.

Tom, what are you up to there, mate?

We do a really lovely sparkling wine in Cornwall,

so I wanted to have something a bit celebratory for the banquet,

so I've got a nice sparkling wine jelly for the judges.

Tom removes his clotted cream ice creams from their moulds,

and places them onto brandy snap discs.

Next he pipes strawberry jam into the centre of the ice cream.

Very classical dessert I think.

Yeah, you know me, Tom. No school like the old school, eh?

He tops his sandwich with another brandy snap disc,

decorated with fresh strawberries...

That's more jam on the top.

Nice.

..then grates on frozen lime zest.

He pipes more strawberry jam onto his plate

and places the ice cream sandwich on top.

What's going on there, mate?

This is a little elderflower and lime infused creme fraiche.

Strawberries and cream, innit? So I just wanted a little bit more cream.

He finishes with a quenelle of clotted cream...

Give us a push.

..and serves alongside his sparkling wine jelly.

Looks awesome. Looks lovely.

Yeah, thanks. You must be happy with that, are you?

I don't know, I don't know. I don't know.

I just hope I've done enough.

Oh.

-Mmmm.

-Mmm.

Thank you.

Well, I instantly like the presentation.

Never 100% happy, so it's just a niggle in my mind.

Fingers crossed, eh?

The ice cream's perfect.

I love the crunch on the top.

It does seem like there's a lot of cream, but then I love cream.

Having that brandy snap circle on top

dividing the sort of the textures and the flavours,

I think works extremely well.

Yes, the flavours are just absolutely perfection.

I really like that jelly. There is a real freshness to it.

Do you like it? It's quite a strong flavour.

Mmm, especially in contrast to the depth and the weight of the cream.

To me, the clotted cream on top seems like an added extra.

You know, it doesn't really need it,

cos the ice cream is just absolutely perfect.

We don't need it.

But we want it!

It's awfully nice, isn't it?

I'm quite excited. I love this as much as I did last time.

-Taste of summer.

-Complete taste of summer.

There you are, at Wimbledon, is this a dish you could see?

The sort of classiness, the kind of, like,

quintessential Britishness about it.

I can definitely see this being served at the banquet.

The final chef serving his dessert is Liverpool-born Ellis Barrie,

representing the North West.

I'd love to get to the banquet.

I've got this far, I'd like to go all the way.

After a disappointing dessert in the heats,

today Ellis is serving a whole new creation.

I love this dish, and hopefully I can just pull it off.

Fingers crossed.

Ellis's original dessert, Strawberry Fields,

a homage to the strawberry picking he enjoyed in his childhood,

was a miss with the judges, as well as veteran judge Daniel Clifford.

It needs more fresh strawberry, it needs to be refined,

-if you get through you've got a lot of work to do.

-Yeah.

Ellis Barrie, when he created his first dessert

-it didn't really go down well with us.

-What was wrong with that one?

-It was boring.

-It was boring.

He's scrapped it completely and he's gone back to the drawing board.

What I like about Ellis's cooking, it does have a real sense

-of his personality to it.

-Yes.

And I do believe he has the potential to get to the banquet.

He's got so many ideas and he just has to...

-Discipline them somehow.

-..discipline them.

Ellis's new dessert, Fete Makes History,

is inspired by the Walton Village summer fete

held annually in Liverpool.

The idea of it is when you go to the summer fete,

all the little events throughout the day you take part in.

We've got some coconuts involved.

Coconuts!

Who knows?

It's a complex dish featuring the elements of a coconut shy,

including a strawberry and cream parfait ball,

a chocolate coconut shell, filled with berry tea panna cotta

and Earl Grey jelly, and multiple strawberry elements.

This is the last dish of the day.

This is the last dish of the competition.

Are summer fetes part of your youthful memories?

Very much so. I think of bunting, I think of the coconut shy,

I think of going home and trying to win the goldfish in the little bag.

Despite having so many technical elements to perfect,

Ellis hasn't yet cooked the dish in its entirety.

So you're taking a few risks on this one, then?

-I've not done it yet.

-Well, that's a risk!

Ellis starts by dipping compressed strawberries into hot toffee

to create a toffee apple effect.

Next onto his plate goes chocolate soil,

followed by slices of more compressed strawberries.

-Run to get my little truck.

-Yeah, we'll get it.

He pipes on strawberry puree, and adds strawberry crisps.

-Here.

-TB Removals.

So, this is the stall at the Walton summer fete,

crafted by myself.

-Extravagant.

-I love my props.

-Yeah.

-I love a bit of theatre.

Ellis places his strawberry candyfloss on top of

his toffee strawberries,

and sprinkles with orange and strawberry powder.

He adds strawberry meringues to his plate,

and places a strawberry and cream parfait ball

into the centre of his dessert.

What is the green ball?

That's to represent the bowl you're about to throw at the coconut stall.

Oh, yes. A lot of work there, Chef.

That's very impressive.

He adds pickled strawberries to his chocolate coconut shells,

containing berry tea panna cotta and Earl Grey jelly,

and places everything onto his cart.

-Well, that was easy.

-THEY ALL LAUGH

Welcome to Walton summer fete.

Looks smashing, mate.

-Yeah, amazing.

-Absolutely smashing.

-It's very impressive.

-Oh!

-Oh, goodness me, there's a lot of detail gone into this.

Thank you.

So, 6th July, 1957, two big things happened.

Althea Gibson became the first black woman to win Wimbledon.

-That's right.

-And Saturday, July 6th, 1957,

garden fete, the Quarrymen played, and that's Paul McCartney

-and John Lennon and that's when they met.

-So, that's a very nice touch.

I think the judges are going to like this one.

I hope so.

It's been four weeks of stressing out.

-Oh, thank you.

-Thank you.

Oh, no, that's not good.

-Oh, dear.

-Oh!

-Oh!

-Oh! Blimey.

Oh, it's a strawberry.

-Oh, it's going everywhere.

-Well, mine's gone in my mouth.

Strawberry glaze is a bit thick, mate.

The coconut shell with the Earl Grey tea, it's a very nice thing.

It is good, actually.

-Essence of strawberry.

-Mm.

Quite like that strawberry parfait in the middle of

the little green ball - it's silky and lovely.

What is that brown stuff at the bottom?

-Chocolate soil.

-Chocolate soil.

-Chocolate soil?

It's not good.

If you win, are you looking forward to cooking that for the banquet?

Yeah, well, I know what I'm doing now.

I think the panna cotta,

the berry panna cotta with the Earl Grey tea jelly is great!

If he'd based his pudding around that, he'd be onto a winner,

but this is a dish of panic.

"Let's bung everything we can in."

We've got pickled strawberries, we've got the dried strawberries,

not to mention the strawberry toffee and the strawberry candyfloss.

This is Ellis's direct response

to him being told that his other dish was boring!

There's just too much happening!

With all eight desserts delivered,

the judges must award each chef a mark out of ten.

The scores will then be added together,

and the dish with the highest total

will win the final place on the banquet menu.

I'd love to cook the last dish of the banquet, you know.

You're signing it off. It's the last thing that everyone will remember.

-It would be a massive honour.

-It's been a hard day.

It's been a hard week. I put a lot of energy into today.

Yeah, I will be honest with you, you look absolutely

-physically drained, mate.

-It's listening to your jokes!

THEY ALL LAUGH

This has been an epic, gladiatorial fight amongst the chefs, I feel.

-I mean, I really do.

-Each day has thrown up fresh surprises,

-fresh wonders.

-They put in so much heart and soul.

I take my hat off to all of them, really. Amazing.

This is my last chance, you know, to get to the banquet.

I haven't got a dish there yet all week.

So, yeah, I just hope I've done enough.

After coming so close yesterday,

I just hope I'm kind of in the mix again.

No, I don't want to go home without a dish in the banquet,

so I just want to get it over with now.

I just want to get in there and get judged.

-Is there any dish that you can see there at the banquet?

-There's

definitely a couple of dishes there that I can see at the banquet.

You know, to marry up with the specialness of Wimbledon.

Let's add it all up, shall we? I'm dying to know.

-Hello, chefs.

-Hello.

So that's it.

This was your last chance to get a dish onto this year's banquet menu.

And so it's time to reveal the final results.

In eighth place, it's...

..Tommy Heaney.

Tommy, we gave you a little advice,

but we didn't find it really came together.

I'm, you know, I'm obviously gutted, but privileged just to get this far.

-So, thank you.

-Thank you.

In seventh place...

..it's...

Michael.

Michael, your new dish looked like a work of art when it arrived

in front of us, but sadly, it didn't quite taste like one.

Yeah, well, it's been great. Thanks a lot. Good luck everyone.

In sixth place, it's...

..Ellis.

There was so much going on, we didn't feel it quite came together

as a sort of single, coherent statement.

Yeah, cool. Um...

THEY ALL LAUGH

-Anyway, thank you.

-No, thank you very much.

-Thank you, Ellis.

I wasn't expecting that.

I wasn't expecting that, either! Bad luck, buddy.

-Ah, well.

-Man!

In fifth place is...

..Phil.

We all thought this was a wonderful, fun dish - me in particular -

but in the final analysis, it wasn't quite Wimbledon.

-Thank you.

-No, thank you.

In fourth place...

..is...

..Pip.

It was, as we would expect from you, a really elegant and classy dish,

but the dish didn't have the balance that we enjoyed so much

the first time round.

I'm gutted, but these guys' desserts were my favourites,

-so, thank you.

-Thank you.

-Thanks, Pip.

And in third place...

is...

Tommy Banks.

Tommy, the flavours were wonderfully delicate, but

visually it slightly lacked impact that we needed to end the banquet.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you very much.

The best of luck to you both.

-ALL:

-Oh!

Oh, this is going to be a tough one.

Who's next?

I think that's fair enough. That's all right.

So that leaves you, Selin, and you, Tom.

Tom, your strawberries and cream dessert was really beautiful

in its presentation and in its flavours.

Selin, you came up with a completely new dish today

and produced a fantastic, refined,

delicately flavoured, combination of textures and flavours.

But I can now reveal that the winning chef

cooking the dessert at this year's banquet at Wimbledon...

..is...

..Selin.

You are joking!

-Congratulations. You've made it.

-That's amazing. Well done.

I'm so shocked. Obviously, coming in with

a new dessert I had no idea what you would think of it.

And it will make a perfect end to our summer banquet.

Tom, commiserations.

You've been so close on so many occasions this week.

You know, you are an outstanding and exciting chef.

I'm just happy for this girl and,

you know, she deserves to cook at the banquet,

so well done, mate.

Well done to both of you, actually, because, honestly, both dishes

were absolutely delicious and I could've seen either of them

going down extremely well at Wimbledon.

I suggest you both go and have maybe one,

maybe two very large celebratory drinks.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

I'm not crying again!

I'm so happy to see Selin's type of food on the final banquet.

-It's just so different.

-It's refreshing,

it's beautiful and it's to be celebrated.

I wasn't expecting that whatsoever.

It's just unbelievable.

I would like to see a lot more from Tom Brown.

I really hope he comes back next year.

The quiet beauty about what he does, honestly.

Today, the standard was so high,

so much good food going on.

I'm just chuffed to be up there, even if I didn't quite make it.

I'm through to the banquet.

Selin's winning dessert completes

the Wimbledon Taste of Summer Banquet Menu.

She'll be joining Pip Lacey cooking her Whatever The Weather starter...

To be cooking at Wimbledon, absolutely amazing.

Incredible to be, you know, doing the starter,

the start of the banquet, it's great.

..Tommy Banks and his

Turbot With Strawberries And Cream

fish course...

I'm absolutely stoked to be going to the banquet.

I was feeling the pressure coming back having been to

the banquet last year. I'm so glad I've got through.

..and Michael Bremner with his ox tongue,

The Grass Is Greener, main course.

I'm representing Scotland at a banquet for the Great British Menu.

It's pretty massive, isn't it?

To be cooking my dessert with a new dish is just truly incredible, yeah.

I just...I can't wait.

Congratulations, guys.

-Here's to the banquet.

-Cheers, everyone.

-Cheers.

-Next time...

-Service, please!

..the four winning chefs face the biggest challenge

-of their professional careers...

-This is hard.

..cooking their Taste Of Summer dishes at the Wimbledon banquet.

They definitely wouldn't have seen strawberries and cream like this at Wimbledon.

But with a host of tennis legends to impress...

Wimbledon to me means everything.

..will the chefs rise to the occasion?

-Just got to pray now.

-It's all melting.