North West Main Great British Menu

It's day three on Great British Menu and the strain is starting to show

as three of the North West's finest chefs, Lisa Allen, Johnnie Mountain

and Bruno Birbeck battle it out

for the privilege of cooking at the ultimate street party.

Their challenge is to create magnificent sharing platters

that will get people talking and showcase the power food has

to bring people together.

Yesterday it was a fight over the fish course and sauce steady perfectionist Lisa Allen leaped

to the head of the field with a very impressive score.

Nine for my fish dish is unbelievable. It's made me determined to fight even harder.

Johnnie scored a disastrous four yesterday, but taking only one point more,

Bruno knows he's not home and dry yet.

It's between me and Johnnie. Just got to crack on, put my head down, and it's all to fight for, isn't it?

Former champion Marcus Wareing is scrutinising them all week

and with Johnnie and Bruno so close together behind Lisa,

-there's everything to play for.

-The other two will be fighting it out. They've got to catch her up.

-If they've got any chance of winning they'll need to pull out the stops.

-Today it's the main course

and we'll see barbecued beer can chicken face off against two lamb dishes,

hay-baked leg of lamb and saddle of lamb with summer vegetables.

Today's a new day, a new course. I'm looking forward to this.

I'm going to come out fighting. I'm raring to go.

This year's brief is challenging the chefs like never before.

Each of them has been seeking out people who work tirelessly to bring

their local communities together, using food to foster friendships.

That looks like a real royal feast, that, doesn't it?

-It does.

-Help yourself.

Inspired by these local heroes, they must create dishes worthy

of being served at the people's banquet,

dishes designed to get people talking when shared by guests.

This has got to be the biggest challenge that I've faced.

The presentation of the food, it's going to be huge,

it's got to be real, real wow factor.

But first, they have to impress Marcus Wareing, a holder of two

Michelin stars and a former champion of Great British Menu.

After seeing mixed results in the fish course, he's expecting grand dishes for the pinnacle of the menu.

You're going to see the pressure today.

This is an open playing field.

You can really go big on the main course cos you can go big in every way.

Holding on to second place

but by just one point is newcomer to the competition, Bruno Birbeck.

Yesterday's gimmicky barbecued fish course misfired, but he's determined

to redeem himself and make it through to the judges on Friday.

The score for the fish, you know, a little bit harsh.

He's a hard judge and that's why he's here, isn't he?

Obviously it's between me and Johnnie really to up the game.

-Whoa, what are you doing?

-Today I've got hay-baked leg of lamb

with a shepherd's pie. The old Sunday roast leg of lamb.

-Mum used to do a shepherd's pie in t'middle of table.

-Oh, yeah.

-It's childhood memories.

-This?

That's the hay so we're going to bake that with the lamb. We're going to stud it with garlic and rosemary.

Hopefully when you get it in the pot,

the smell of the hay'll come out.

I mean, so far, Bruno, we've seen you from a North West lad.

-Yeah, yeah.

-A big lad.

-A big boy.

-You've been very intricate and quite detailed and quite dinky...

-Yeah.

-in your approach to your cookery.

-It's not what you expect from a big northern boy, is it?

-No.

Is this it now, where you're going to really...?

This is where hopefully, you know, where you see a bit...

-Big and bold.

-It's quite bold.

Will this be the course that takes Bruno away from refined

restaurant fare and closer to the hearty and generous dishes that are worthy of the banquet?

He needs to really show that North West lad inside him and it's all about big and bold and lots of food.

That's more important to me now. I don't want to see incy wincy nothing.

Next up, it's Johnnie Mountain who's desperate to impress this year

after an early exit in last year's competition.

The failure of his unconventional fish soup has taken the wind out of his sails.

He may be down, but he's not yet out.

If I get knocked out this year again on the Thursday, I'll be absolutely

devastated cos this year I put so much effort into it. I'll really have to turn this around.

My dish, I'm doing saddle of lamb with some lovely summer vegetables and vanilla thyme potatoes.

-OK.

-I'm going to be filling that, a light bread stuffing. but I'm putting the fillets back, the kidneys

back, nice blitzed up with marjoram, lemon, thyme, some lemon zest through there, keep it nice and quite light.

-Truffle.

-Really nice, great this time of year,

absolutely spot on. Nice, good quality asparagus.

-Surprised to see you using vanilla.

-It's vanilla potatoes, you know,

vanilla potatoes for a savoury dish, me personally, I really love it.

I think it's quite interesting actually. There's two places to go through and you've both got lamb.

And obviously, Bruno's gone for his leg where I've used a much leaner cut.

If that works, I'm in trouble.

-Are you not giving up?

-I never give up.

Johnnie will be hoping to outclass Bruno's lamb dish

with his souped up Sunday lunch,

but will the strong flavours of vanilla, garlic and truffle

prove to be too powerful for the dish?

The box of ingredients that Johnnie brought to the table is absolutely fantastic.

It's got everything in it except for the making for a fabulous dish,

but he also had a great box of fish ingredients

and look at what he did to that.

Our third and final chef is reigning champion and current leader, Lisa Allen.

Despite top marks yesterday, she's taking nothing for granted.

-She has her heart set on a place in Friday's judging.

-I don't think it's over yet.

There's two more courses to go so I can not let my guard down and I've just got to keep pushing.

Tea lady's here! Wow. SOME LAUGHTER

Bruno.

-Barbecue.

-Barbecue, that one.

-It's barbecue, mate!

-I'll do right, yay.

Where's your ingredients?

Ah-h-h...

It's not lit then.

Drama queen. Bring it over here. Let's have a look.

OK. I've gone for barbecued beer can chicken with summer beans

and a tear-and-share bread.

We've starting with the chicken. We're going to marinade it

in malt which gives the beer flavour. We'll brush some of that on in between cooking as well.

I'm doing it whole on a beer can holder so the fumes will come up

through the chicken which is this here. Beer goes into the bottom.

That sits on there and the chicken sits up with that

in the top so it kind of steams the beer through the chicken.

How are you going to transfer that into the room?

-The chicken's going to be served stood up so I've got another holder for it to go on.

-Right.

A fork and a knife, and it'll be served on half a beer barrel.

Lisa's making a simple but eye-catching main course,

but has her choice of meat already put her on the back foot?

Is chicken grand enough for the main event, you know?

Is it going to be, "Wow, chicken"?

She could completely mess this one up as much as she could succeed.

With little separating Johnnie and Bruno, and the lowest scoring chef leaving the competition tomorrow,

-the pressure's on as to who will make it through to the judges.

-There's only one point in it.

-Me and you, big boy.

-Yeah. One point in it, eh?

Last year I was how many points behind you last year, Lisa?

You were on 15. I was on nine. There were six points in it, wasn't there?

I'll never forget, Johnnie.

That put the frighteners up me when you got a nine last year.

His rivals are curious just how Johnnie's saddle of lamb fits in with his globally-inspired menu.

-So we've had Indian and French.

-Yeah.

-What have we got today?

Lisa, it's called the Great British Menu for a reason, cos this is British, Great BRITISH Menu.

It's funny how you weren't saying that yesterday.

I think you've worked out already so far, you know, my menu's a bit bizarre, to say the least.

Yeah, you've got different influences.

Different influences, and this to me is the classic of

great British, you know, great Sunday lunches, what it should all be about.

Watching over their every move is former champion Marcus.

He knows exactly what it'll take to get a dish on the menu at the final banquet.

'I want to see generosity.'

I don't want to see any little incy dincy bits of cuts of meat.

I want to see boom, there you go, everybody, this street, the whole

thing, everybody tuck in and enjoy a great sharing platter for a great celebration.

Johnnie and Bruno have opted for impressive joints of lamb.

Johnnie's chosen to make a stuffed saddle

whilst Bruno gets on with boning out his leg, giving Marcus plenty

of room for comparison and leaving newcomer Bruno a little intimidated by the impending showdown.

Yeah, Johnnie's fish, proper classical, you know what I mean.

He's probably practised it. It's strong, if he gets his cooking right. Yeah, I'm in trouble.

Having been criticised by Marcus for his two previous courses being too refined and precise,

Bruno's taking a more rustic approach with his hay-baked whole leg of lamb.

-You got a sweat on, petal, eh?

-Who, me?

-Are you all right?

Yeah. Big load, that, you know.

You've got an hour to get that lamb in and it'll take you three months!

But in a role reversal, Johnnie's opted for an uncharacteristic high-tech flourish.

What about your gravy today, Johnnie? Are you traditional or are you a bit fancy?

I thought I'd give them a treat this year. It's going to be moist anyway.

I don't think gravy's a necessity on this,

so I'm going for one of Lisa's favourites, a garlic espuma.

I've bought myself a whipping gun, like a whipping boy.

I thought you didn't like that sort of stuff, mate.

I'll serve it hot. You know me, I'm normally against that sort of thing. I am turning.

Johnnie's already shown he's a born risk-taker, but his use

of fancy foams and unusual flavours has still taken Lisa by surprise.

You say you're doing vanilla potatoes with your lamb?

-Yeah. Have you done them before?

-No.

-Really?

I'm shocked, Lisa Allen. It's so going to be on your menu next week.

"Vanilla potatoes by Lisa Allen."

Vanilla potatoes with lamb, I'm not too sure about.

Garlic espuma...

to me, I don't think it's street party food.

While Johnnie's relying on strong flavours to make his lamb dish

stand out, Marcus wants to make sure Bruno's cooking will be equally big and bold.

-That's gone small, isn't it?

-Yeah.

So basically we've just boned it, tied it really tight,

trimmed off the end and studded it with garlic and rosemary.

-I've just vat-packed it...

-Is there anything in the middle?

-No, it's just like that.

I don't understand why he took it off the bone.

He's actually reduced it to this little joint of leg of lamb.

It could look like something very small in a very big pot, which is not very impressive.

Disciplined Lisa has jumped to the top of the leader board

with her near-flawlessly executed simple dishes.

Her assured strategy is getting the attention of her rivals.

OK. There's beer in the bottom of the vessel

and then it's soaked in beer and marinaded.

-Boozy bird.

-Boozy bird!

-Boozy bird.

-Your inspiration?

-Exactly!

Put the stopper in it cos it steams with the juices going into the bird as well, all right.

Nicely tuck her legs back.

-She looks pretty.

-Very pretty.

-It's time to get it on, boys.

Lisa has safely adapted an outdoor barbecue for indoor use to give her chicken that authentic smoky taste,

but her unorthodox approach is not without its risks.

There's one thing Lisa must remember and that's not to overcook that chicken.

She's got to get her timing absolutely right.

Johnnie was sent packing first last year by Marcus

so has changed both his approach and his cooking style this time.

I decided to invest in a few toys this year.

This molecular gastronomy larky has really got me.

I didn't understand it before and that's why I shied away from it.

But trying out new techniques might prove to be his undoing.

-Can I taste the espuma?

-It's on the back of your hand.

Where's this sit on the dish?

-This is going to hold all the veggies together.

-Right, OK.

Sort of bring it all together.

The veggies are, you know, quite nice and light

where this is really powerful, cos there's no jus with it,

there's no gravy with it so that's the thing. I wanted that

pink and moist and all the rest and then this to help carry it through. Didn't want a pot of gravy.

An espuma with this particular dish,

can't see where it fits, to be honest.

Used in the wrong way, it could be a disaster, it could be rubbish.

To get inspiration for his international menu, Johnnie

headed to a primary school in North London he's worked with in the past.

With 42 languages spoken by the pupils,

it's an ideal place to sample food from around the world,

and Johnnie has asked parents to contribute homemade dishes to a tasting event he's arranged...

Hey, hi, Tunai. Hello, how are you? Nice to see you.

..with the help of head teacher Tunai Hussein and teacher Steve Pearce.

-Smells good.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

When you talk to the children you'll start to ask them

about what kind of foods they like and what do they cook at home, there's a huge variety.

It's a diverse community, but all coming together and singing from the same hymn sheet.

Each family has cooked a dish to share that their children

love to eat and Johnnie is keen to hear their views.

-So listen, kids, are we hungry?

-Yes!

Are we hungry?!

-Yes!

-Come on in then, parents. Let's try your food. Come on in.

-Lamb mince cobbler.

-Wo-o-ow.

-That's good.

-Congratulations.

And it's got rice in there, looks quite spicy.

It's nice. It's so good.

-What do you think?

-Nice.

-Delicious.

The kids' opinions on this globally-inspired cuisine are great to hear

so it's also the perfect opportunity for Johnnie to taste test his main course for the competition.

So I'm going to take this up to my little mini Marcus Wareings.

I really liked it when I tasted it.

It looks so nice and tastes so sweet.

-Scrumptious.

-Scrumptious!

It shows you a different kind of food that you haven't cooked before and different flavours.

It was a really nice dish for everyone to share.

-Do you think I've got a chance of winning the Great British Menu with that?

-Yeah.

-Maybe, we'll see!

-Maybe, we'll see.

-After almost overwhelming encouragement, all that remains is for Johnnie

-to extend a special invitation to Steve, Tunai and the children.

-Come on, Steven.

Mr Pearce and Miss Hussein.

Thank you. Could we have a round of applause for them? Thank you.

If I'm lucky enough to go through to the finals of the Great British Menu,

if you will be my guests I'd be proud for you to be there.

-I'd be honoured. Thank you.

-Thank you.

-It's an honour to have you here today. Thank you very much.

-Nice meeting you.

Thank you, kids.

Beautiful. Some of the food was absolutely spot on

and it's exactly what the Great British Menu banquet should be about.

Different people, communities, all coming together.

Back in the kitchen, all three chefs are focussing hard on their main courses.

Lisa Allen's hoping to widen her lead with -

Bruno Birbeck's aiming to satisfy with -

And Johnnie Mountain's determined to climb out of last place with -

Deciding their fates in the pressure cooker of the kitchen is former champion Marcus Wareing.

Any one of these dishes has got it. Any one of them could be number one.

It's down to the individual chef now.

The chefs are desperate to cook at the people's banquet and they're pulling out all the stops.

Johnnie removes his stuffed saddle of lamb from the oven to rest.

Bruno packs his marinated leg of lamb in damp hay to roast whole.

And across the kitchen, Lisa brushes her tear-and-share bread dough

with roasted garlic and olive oil.

Any mistake could cost them a place before the judges on Friday

and with so much going on at once, the cracks are beginning to show.

That hay smell's going to affect my bread. You've pinched my oven, Bruno.

Shocking, isn't it? Thought that was mine.

A close call that could cost Lisa valuable time and her lead.

If I had put my bread in there, the hay flavour could have, you know, masked that flavour

of the bread which I didn't want to do so I'm just glad I caught it at the last minute.

Luckily for Lisa, Johnnie's the first to plate up today.

He dresses portions of summer vegetables on top of his garlic

espuma and dishes up his distinctive vanilla-flavoured potatoes.

Got a lot of vanilla in there.

Yeah. Well, it's got to be, it's pointless putting the flavour in

unless you're really going to kick it, you know?

He then places the saddle of lamb on the centre of the board for his guests to carve.

Right, let's go. Have you got my plates, petal?

-I certainly have.

-Good girl.

-I'll let you put down first.

Here we go then. Oh, yeah.

You all right, you happy with that?

-Yeah.

-You don't sound it.

Well, you never know with you.

I'm happy in me, I'm very happy, I'm always happy.

String on. You want to tuck in.

Yeah. I want that. This is how I've always done it.

-Are you happy with that dressing? Tell me if I'm doing it wrong, Johnnie.

-I'd give you four.

-Shall we go and try some?

-Let's go.

-OK. Good luck. Come on, Johnnie.

Johnnie thinks he's made a rich celebration of a beloved roast lunch

but will his vanilla potatoes and garlic espuma appeal to Marcus' taste?

Why not the shoulder? Why the saddle?

I wanted to carry different flavours through and give it

the leanness of the meat, carrying the flavours of my edition to it.

It's no good getting a great piece of lamb and putting it in the oven with a bit of hay round it.

Yeah. I think that fat...

Cos what we do is take most of the fat off and then bat it out.

Yeah. Get it nice and crispy. Take all that sinew off there.

-Potatoes, you happy with those?

-I'm happy and comfortable with that.

I like vanilla potatoes. I think it works quite well.

It's not as bizarre as it sounds.

I'm not so keen on them personally.

-I reckon a good old-fashioned roast, myself.

-Yeah.

You know, I mean, miss that vanilla, have a roast.

Putting the spoon on the plate, would you consider going back to gravy?

-No.

-Really?

-No. With certain dishes. I'm really happy with this.

-I'm really happy that it brings a new lightness to it.

-Strong.

Quite strong, isn't it? Quite powerful.

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

-Yeah, he has.

Whether they marriage up, the vanilla, the garlic, the truffle, then went to the lamb.

The question is, would it overpower it?

You're sitting in third place now. Do you feel like you've put something out

-that could push further up the table?

-Oui, chef. That's a yes in French!

You never can tell with him, trying to get a good mark out of him, it's blood out of a stone.

With the first round in the battle of the lambs over, the pressure's on Bruno to top Johnnie's effort.

But it's Lisa who's next to serve as she lifts the lid on her barbecue beer can chicken.

It's really taken on the colour.

-Yeah.

-So the malt is in here?

-Yeah. There's a bit in there.

-What else is in there?

-Just a bit of beer to let it down.

-OK.

-You need to get that beer flavour with it.

With the clock ticking, Lisa tops her summer bean salad with fresh herbs and pours chicken gravy

into a washed beer bottle.

Finally, she sits her beer can chicken upright on the serving

platter and fills a basket with her garlic-topped tear-and-share bread.

-Bruno.

-Yeah.

-Can you give us a hand, please?

We'll do all the work, mate.

Beer can chicken with beans and bread.

-Are you happy?

-Yeah. It's my interpretation of a banquet.

Like you all said, it when you smiled and laughed

when it came up, as long as it tastes good

and that's what I'm after. It's about people to have some fun.

-I'm going to try this. Lisa, let's go.

-Let's go.

Lisa's paid close attention to the sharing brief, but is her barbecued chicken grand

enough to merit a place at the people's banquet?

-You've got beer in the centre of it, haven't you?

-Yes.

That evaporates into the chicken.

It's the sauce round the outside that you baste over the chicken and add in to the gravy as well.

-So beer's a big, big, big thing for you on this one.

-Yeah.

-In the cooking, it's so important.

It's nailed the party element, full stop.

How's the taste?

Tastes like chicken.

That's good that, isn't it?

That malt. Taste that malt?

Quite yeasty in the back, isn't it?

Do you think people will struggle carving that?

Chicken's a familiar thing that people understand and love.

Yeah. It can have a level of unsteadiness to it when you're carving something that is...

-stood up.

-I was a bit worried about the bread when I felt it over there

as it was on the resting rack, it felt quite hard to me, quite firm, but it's pretty perfect, isn't it?

Yeah. I mean it is, it is. It's lovely, like, isn't it?

Any changes?

I think I'd probably season those beans a little bit more.

When I first saw what she was doing, chicken and beans, I thought she's off her tree, she's off her trolley.

I thought it's not going to show any of her cooking skills, but it does shine through, doesn't it?

She's going to get another high mark. I think we should just do one, mate.

Not too sure if he thinks it might be too simple.

My worry is that he thinks I should have gone the other way,

a more arty or a different dish,

but at the end of the day, it's my interpretation.

Time for Bruno to fight back in the battle of the lambs.

He's hoping his many accompaniments will give him the edge over Johnnie.

At the last minute, he pipes sage mash atop his mini shepherd's pies.

And just as he's done for each of his courses, he serves some elements of his dish onto individual plates

and not just a sharing platter, crowning squares of boulangere potatoes with crushed peas.

Bruno has produced a couple of restaurant-looking plates.

With this one, he might be going for a different angle, you never know. It seems to be a bit of both.

With time running out, Bruno places his mini shepherd's pies on a wooden serving block along

with peas and broad beans and his lamb sauce before topping off his potatoes and peas with red cabbage.

Do you want to give us a hand?

He enlists an extra pair of hands to help transfer his hay-baked lamb

and all the accompaniments to the finish line.

You do the honours.

-Smells wonderful, doesn't it?

-Farmyard. It smells amazing.

-This is big and bold.

-Yeah. It's quite... Yeah.

-This is the North West boy coming out here.

-This is it. Definitely.

-What do you think, Johnnie?

-I'm worried now.

That's a Sunday lunch and a half, that is, isn't it? That's proper.

-Shall we try some?

-Yeah. Fantastic. Thank you.

Bruno may think his lamb best represents the big and bold flavours of the North West,

but does it have the wow factor for the people's banquet?

It is a showstopper and it's just me.

Bit northern, you know, so it's a good, honest plate of food.

What about the flavour in the lamb?

It's a big flavour when it's in the pot, but it's quite mild when it's on the lamb.

Yeah, it's not overdoing it, it's more the actual smell

and the theatre of it that I'm going for.

It's not doing it for me. It's not.

I'm not being rude and I'm not just saying it. I think it's quite tough.

I think the garlic and the rosemary's taken the flavour of the hay away.

It has.

The sauce you made to go with the shepherd's pie,

are you happy with the flavour, the strength of it?

If anything, maybe it is just a bit too sweet.

Maybe reduce the amount of port I actually put into it, that I would maybe chance, maybe I'd put the

shepherd's pie under the grill to get a finished crust and colour on it.

There's a lot of things going on here though.

-There is, isn't there?

-There's boulangere there as well.

Yeah. Pureed pea crush.

That shepherd's pie is cracking, absolute cracking.

-That's lovely, that. Does he need the leg of lamb?

-No.

-Peas, shepherd's pie and gravy.

-Done.

-This is more close to the brief than the other two.

-This has maybe hit the note.

Think I've won the battle of lambs. I think, you know, mine's theatre, it's a bit more sharing,

it's northern, it's an honest plate of food.

All three tastings complete, the chefs must await the verdict,

but which main course is spectacular enough to earn top marks from Marcus?

I think my worries now are is that I need to get enough points with the dish to actually stay

in that race. If I get low points and the boys get high points then the race is on in the desserts.

Definitely nervous about waiting for the score.

It might be the last chance saloon or you don't know so it's one of them.

If I get a poor mark then that's it, I may be on my way home.

Johnnie, I want to start with you.

I thought the lamb was delicious. Carving it was fantastic, very easy.

Interesting to see your change within a year.

You've brought some new techniques to the table, the garlic espuma was very interesting.

The potatoes for me weren't cooked enough, didn't get the vanilla.

It just doesn't work for me at all. I don't see the point of it, personally.

Lisa, I mean, I thought you created a real street food dish there

and that the malt and the beer came across really well, the chicken wasn't overcooked.

Criticism - could have done with a little bit more salt.

My only other concern would be it's a very difficult thing to carve when it's standing up like that.

Bruno, you finally came to the party.

I saw a big northern lad cooking there.

I want the hay to enhance the flavour of the lamb.

You did that really well and that's where the garlic

and the rosemary came to play with the lamb.

My criticism is the shepherd's pie.

-I would have just maybe liked to have seen it minced and the gravy really thick and sticky.

-OK.

Johnnie, for your saddle-style lamb with summer vegetables and garlic espuma,

I'm going to give you...

..seven.

Lisa, for your barbecued chicken, summer beans

and bread to share, for that

I'm going to give you...

an eight.

And for Bruno,

for your hay-baked lamb, mini shepherd's pie,

and for that, Bruno,

I'm going to award you...

-eight also.

-Thank you.

Makes it interesting for dessert, yeah.

So, after the main course, Lisa extends her reign at the top

of the leader board with an overall score of 25,

followed in second by Bruno with a combined score of 21

and leaving Johnnie in last place, falling further behind on 19.

Two points ahead of Johnnie, not a big enough lead, is it?

So got to pull a nice dessert out.

Now going into dessert and they're not far behind me at all

so I have to really be on top of my game.

My sights are now firmly set on Bruno.

Right now, Bruno's in my vision and I'm going to take him down.

Tomorrow, the North West contest steps up a gear.

It's their last chance to get to the judging chamber.

I'm incredibly nervous now, it's that crunch point.

A mistake in the dessert course could be fatal.

-It's split.

-What are you going to do?

-I'll have to do it again.

The chefs are fighting for survival.

There's two people going through and one going home. Who's it going to be?

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