Wales Judging Great British Menu

It's judgment day on Great British Menu.

The coveted prize - a place in the national finals.

Three of Wales' finest chefs have been locked

in a culinary battle to serve their dishes at The People's Banquet.

It's been a week of triumph and disaster.

-BLEEP,

-I'm going to burn the sausages!

What's the penalty for being late?

Formidable veteran Angela Hartnett has demanded perfection.

I'm trying to make rice pudding fit for the banquet.

Keep trying. You can do better than that.

Newcomer Gareth Jones fell at the final hurdle,

pipped by experienced competitor, Aled Williams.

Pfft, I wasn't expecting that one.

Now, Michelin-starred Hywel Jones

and Aled must win over the exacting judges.

Do you know, that is truly disgusting.

It's just very, very badly executed.

They know the Welsh crown is up for grabs.

I'm a fighter. I'd be lying if I wasn't intimidated by Hywel.

He's a cracking chef, but I'm here to represent

my own food and I'll give it my all.

I'm not going to stop now.

I'm making sure one of my dishes represents Wales on the final menu.

Regional finalists Aled and Hywel

are both desperate to earn the right to represent Wales

in the prestigious Great British Menu final.

-Do you think you're lucky to be here?

-Not at all.

-What did you beat Gareth by?

-One.

-One?

-End of the day,

it doesn't matter if it's one point or 50 points.

If Gareth had nailed his dessert, it could've been curtains.

You impressed Angela, but you have to impress

new people now. I'm not giving up my crown easily.

Hywel Jones has so far led the way

with contemporary twists on Welsh classics,

accomplished with stunning culinary flair,

and he's determined to extend his winning streak.

The battle is going to be really fierce.

I'm confident if I deliver the menu, as I know I can, I'll be the winner.

But he'll have to get past the tenacious Aled Williams first,

whose menu earned him both high and low marks throughout the week.

I still think I've got four cracking courses.

I hope the judges agree with me.

Our trio of discerning judges, Prue Leith, Matthew Fort

and Oliver Peyton,

are looking for nothing less than the most stunning platters

of food to share at The People's Banquet,

dishes that will honour and amaze guests at the ultimate street party.

I think what I've learned so far is we need to see spectacular dishes.

No matter how good the cooking is in itself,

When you've got a big huge occasion like this and you put down one plate, it has to be spectacular.

Small anything ain't going to work, it's got to be big.

You know, when people sit down, the whole table goes quiet.

We mustn't forget, this has got to be food for sharing.

It has to be the sort of food that puzzles you or interests you

or confuses you, so that you talk to your neighbour and you say,

"Try this, it's amazing," or, "What do you think?" It's got to start a conversation.

As the battle commences, Aled's got the edge having cooked for the judges last year,

but disciplined Hywel is determined not to let his nerves lose him the advantage.

Nervous, putting your food in front of the judges?

I am nervous. Today's going to be a sterner test. How did you find it last year?

Petrifying, you don't know what they're thinking,

you've no idea whether they're slating your food or enjoying it.

His menu kicks off with a refined take

on the Welsh classic, lamb broth cawl,

with sweet breads, stuffed cabbage leaves and leek and ham terrine.

But it's Aled who'll get the tasting started today

and his menu commences with a tricky four ways with guinea fowl,

including a ballatine, oggy pasty, crispy wings and liver parfait.

With so many separate elements to get right,

Hywel senses an opening to derail his rival.

So, Aled, have you made any changes to your starters?

The only change I'll do is cutting out the silly little errors.

-A few seasoning misjudgements.

-Is the parfait set?

Obviously it's difficult to look at it,

but wobbling it, looking at it, looks pretty good to me.

-Is it set or not?

-I'm confident that it's set.

Angela said people might see your dish as canapes.

-Are you worried about that?

-That's exactly what I was aiming for,

if I'm honest with you. I didn't want it to be too heavy.

But it is a first course and not canapes.

It's not exactly canapes, is it? It's, for me,

four different elements of the guinea fowl

and for me, it works well for the first course.

Ignoring Hywel's jibes, Aled takes his wings out of the fryer,

places the ballatine of leg on the slate

and takes the breast meat oggy straight out of the oven

and, with little time to spare, gets it to the pass.

-Down to the judges now, isn't it?

-So they say.

-Thank you, gents.

So, will the judges find Aled's elaborate quartet

of guinea fowl remarkable in every way?

That'll do for me, but I don't know what you're going to eat.

-It's a bit meagre.

-It's not meagre.

-I must say, it is...

-Very good pate.

-The flavours are delicious.

-That's good.

-Things are beginning to look up.

I'm very happy to see guinea fowl.

Guinea fowl is what we should be eating

instead of chicken. There's so much flavour in guinea fowl

and we've seen very little in any competition.

This guy can make pastry.

The pate's delicious, but I don't think liver pate

in a kilner jar is going to rock my world.

Not a lot to talk about there.

Honestly it's not generous enough, is it? They're like canapes,

I don't have a sense of sharing, conviviality, feast.

I think it has many admirable qualities.

The flavours are great, the pastry-making is fantastic.

The mousse is one of the finest I've ever had. All of that is fine,

but the fact is, it is a study in brown

and brown is one of the most dispiriting colours known to mankind.

It's such a waste of a course,

when the first course could make such a great impression.

Aled's guinea fowl tickled the judges' taste buds,

but didn't meet the brief.

Can Hywel steal an early lead

with his chefy interpretation of the classic Welsh broth - cawl?

There's even more pressure on. You're starting from scratch.

I'm against the stronger of the other two competitors. I have to make sure I'm on the ball.

Perfectionist Hywel's serving his cawl

with lightly smoked lamb tenderloins and a clarified lamb broth.

He's normally calm under pressure, but is feeling the strain today.

-Have the nerves started to set in at all?

-The nerves are in.

They're kicking in. I'm bricking it.

Hywel's nerves are showing more today than it has all week.

The pressure of cooking for judges has taken it up another level.

Have you got the shaky hand syndrome yet?

As soon as I put it in a bowl, I'll have shaky hands.

Shaky hands, shaky feet.

You put in so much effort to get to this stage,

you don't want to make any little silly mistakes at the last second.

Hoping to avoid any unforced errors, Hywel carefully dresses

each individual bowl with sliced lamb and root vegetables,

leaving a few other choice elements for his guests

to share amongst themselves.

-Very nice, Hywel.

-Nice and crispy, the broth tastes just right,

-and the mint jelly Angela suggested served separately. All right?

-Cool.

Will the judges find Hywel's Welsh soup strikes the right note

to kick off The People's Banquet?

I feel like Oliver - "More?!"

This is like one of those traditional Welsh soups

that's been given a gastronomic makeover.

-It's all very finely diced.

-It's beautifully done,

those little jelly things taste delicious.

-It's mint sauce, isn't it?

-Yeah. It's minty and lemony.

You think that's a brussel sprout and you discover

it's a little stuffed cabbage. It's a tiny little stuffed thing.

I don't like the contrast between these earthy bowls

and the fine cooking.

It's quite a rustic dish in the first place and he's poncifying it.

It does not have that sense of expansiveness

that encourages the conversations to flow, the barriers to breakdown,

people to get to know each other.

It's, "Oh, did you enjoy the soup? I think it was awfully nice, don't you?"

I don't agree. It's beautifully cooked, it has a surprise element.

This is like playing in a doll's house, I love it.

-I don't want a doll's house, I want a palace.

-You'll get a palace later.

This is the first course, we're just on the doll's house.

-I think we're at the tradesman's entrance.

-Sometimes I just want to punch you.

-Oh, Prue!

So, Hywel's starter has sharply divided the judging panel.

It's down to Aled to bounce back with his fish course.

Veteran Angela Hartnett loved his steamed whole turbot

on Tuesday, but there's no guarantee that today's judges will agree.

Aled's already confident, though, he's on to a winner.

This was my strongest course in the week.

If I mess this one up,

I know it's going to really affect my score.

Hywel's more focused on the eye-catching copper fish kettle.

Were you polishing it like a genie and his lamp?

I know what you'll be wishing for

For you to overcook your lobster, forget about your Wellington

and drop your tart on the floor.

Possibly, this is the one course where Aled could pose a real threat.

In his serving kettle,

Aled's sauteed leeks, fennel and shallots

and topped them with shellfish and his portioned whole turbot to steam.

It certainly appears to tick the boxes for this year's brief

but will the judges agree?

Please be careful, boys. Thank you, gents.

Do me a favour, and drop it.

Does Aled's dish measure up to the judge's vision

of the perfect fish course for sharing?

-This is what we've been waiting for.

-This is a turbotiere, isn't it?

Yeah, turbotiere.

Wow, look at that.

-Our old friend the turbot.

-isn't that just a thing of beauty?

-Yummy. Come on, Prue.

-Goodness, look at that.

That's what I call a healthy chunk.

As soon as the lid comes off, you just get excited.

-It just looks great, it smells great.

-Come closer, Oliver.

I have to say, a rather nice little dash of colour.

you have the beautiful green of the samphire

the white of the fish, these scarlet tongues of cockles.

I think this is delicious. Absolutely fabulous.

I love the flavours.

I think this is the finest fish dish we've had in any competition.

-Why?

-I tell you why, think it's so beautifully cooked.

It does everything we ask of it.

It's dramatic, it's sharing, it's a talking point.

It's very pretty.

-It's a great eat.

-And it's delicious.

I can certainly see this going through.

My only fear is, where do we find 25 turbotieres in order to serve it?

It's a resounding success for Aled,

leaving high expectations for Hywel to match with his fish course.

He's betting his dressed lobster with asparagus

will treat the banquet guests.

But Hywel senses an uphill battle to sway the judges,

so he's making a last-minute change to try and steal some momentum back from Aled.

So, Hywel, any ideas what to do to make it ten out of ten?

I know I'm up against it. Your dish, I know that's a strong contender.

It's got to be bang on to even get close to you.

-It's got to pack a punch in flavour.

-Yeah.

The lobster oil for the mayonnaise, if I just glaze them,

it should intensify the lobster flavour.

Hywel tops his half shells of lobster

with three different textures of asparagus and claw meat fritters

and brings his stone and glass platter to the pass.

When you put it down, that side in front first, yeah?

Thank you.

Game on, half way.

Will the judges find Hywel's flash cooking

fitting for the ultimate street party?

# Pom, pom-pom-pom, pom, pom-pom-pom! #

-Hm.

-Go on, grab one.

-If you think of our guests,

lobster always has that sense of something special.

Get stuck in.

The deep-fried balls are just absolutely terrific, aren't they?

They really are. It's amazing.

That lovely crispness on the outside

and it's full of lobster flavour inside.

This is Premier League cooking, you know. Quality assured.

It's just the lobster and a little bit of cucumber

-a little bit of asparagus and that's it.

-Yeah.

-Wonderful.

How often have we seen lobster before and you have

that slightly sinking sensation - "Oh, it's another damn lobster."

"Oh, not lobster again, I can't stand it!" But actually,

now and again, along comes something and it wakes you up a bit

and I think this has woken me up as far as lobster is concerned.

-Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

-I think

this is the type of dish we're looking for. This is the type of dish,

to me, that feels quite generous.

I think this is a lovely dish for the banquet.

It's festive, it's pretty, it's celebratory.

I think it's wonderful. I'd love to see that go through.

So Hywel's lobster has also won praise.

Both he and Aled are oblivious to the judges' comments.

The first two courses went to plan.

Everything was cooked better, presented better.

I won't give up now. I've got two courses to go

and I'm here to win.

I'm confident now. I've got two cracking dishes coming up.

I have to make sure I execute them as well as previous courses

and I'll be home and dry.

Half way through the day, the contest is still wide open.

Hywel's venison Wellington main course is up next

and having received an impressive nine from Angela

earlier in the week, he's forging ahead with no changes.

The difference, I guess, today

is that when I brought it up to the pass for Angela,

we carved it there and then,

so at least I was put out of my pain.

Fighting talk from Hywel,

but Aled can't resist trying to shake that confidence.

Any changes for the serving your vegetables? Angela mentioned that

-might go a little bit cold.

-It's a warm salad.

It's not going to be piping hot.

-So, stick to your guns.

-Yeah.

Brave move, chef.

No time to look back now.

With the clock ticking, Hywel plates up his pea salad

and tops with baby girolle mushrooms.

Finally, he carefully loads his rested Wellington

on to a wooden board.

Have you got plates?

OK, lads, you know what to do.

Can Hywel's twist on a retro menu staple, delight the judges?

Is that the Welsh flag we have on top?

-Some sort of runes, carved into the surface.

-What's inside, though?

-I guess I'm going to go with duck.

-No, it's not.

-It's beef Wellington.

-I think it's venison.

-You're absolutely right.

Oh, beautifully done. Thank you.

Gosh, this looks absolutely delicious. Really simple but lovely.

I always think Wellington looks a little bit dull,

but the quality of the venison,

the taste of this is absolutely delicious.

It's beautifully modulated by the gravy or the sauce

which gives a sort of richness to it

and also by the mushroom farce around the outside of the meat.

It's sort of retro food, but I realise why it was so popular.

They are just lovely flavours.

These are the absolute apotheosis of summer veg.

In terms of an occasion like this,

I think it looks adequate rather than great.

I'm looking for something more dramatic,

with some sort of sense of occasion to it,

with some sort of hint of modernity, some passion from the chef.

This is a well-trodden path. Nothing interesting about this.

There's plenty of it to be interested in. It's extremely good to eat.

It's a beautiful piece of cooking, a really accomplished,

polished, refined and, I think, very, very successful.

This can't be the best that the best chefs in this country can produce. A Wellington's a Wellington.

But I still think it is a blindingly good piece of cooking.

Another split panel for Hywel, which could be just the ticket for Aled.

Will his barbecue main course go down a storm?

He's taking on another big challenge in his Welsh black sirloin steak,

which he's serving with a selection of barbecue-inspired elements.

Is this your new way you're doing the beef?

It's trying to get more smokey flavour.

You can see the bar marks will bring some flavour.

I'm kind of basting it with this nice smoked butter.

I'm actually going to let the judges carve it

at the table. I was missing a trick carving it myself.

-Good luck.

-Do you mean that?

-No.

Aled's confident he's improved his dish.

But Hywel reminds him of an element

that didn't go well earlier in the week.

Sticking with your coleslaw concept?

I'm going to stick to my guns on that one.

We'll see whether it pays off, or comes back to bite me.

Aled's opted not to change the hot coleslaw on his main course.

Quite a risk, I think, because it wasn't well-received

by either myself, Gareth or Angela. He's quite brave doing that.

With time against him, Aled tops mini bone marrow burgers

with large button mushrooms as buns and plates them alongside

his Carmarthen cheese and leek veggie sausages

and confit jacket potatoes.

Gents.

For me, that's a barbecue. Thank you very much, gents.

Three down, one to go.

Will Aled's self-belief prove well-founded

and score a hit with the judges?

Well, there's beef and there's a burger.

-Can I carve you a bit, Prue?

-Mm!

OK.

-Would one slice be enough, ma'am?

-Yeah, that would be fine, thank you.

-Is it good?

-Yeah.

There's no gravy.

This is such a good piece of beef, it just doesn't need it. Amazing.

Delicious beef.

I think it's got an interesting, almost dry texture,

in spite of having all the juice inside it.

It's really full of flavour.

Do you know, that is truly disgusting.

Disgusting, this is bitter,

a nasty texture and it's just horrible.

It's sort of claggy. It is bitter.

Actually the potato and the tomato isn't very good either.

-The tomatoes have made the potato soggy.

-And the vegetables,

I mean look at this. They look awful.

Well, they taste worse.

The chef has got completely carried away here.

I think the piece of beef itself is absolutely spot-on,

but after that, it all goes completely wrong.

It's just sad, because it's quite simply not good enough.

This is a really, really disappointing dish.

The only thing about sharing, is that it is fun

to have somebody in your party do the carving

and these things could be intriguing

and cause conversation and so on, if they tasted delicious.

Very, very badly executed.

Whatever restaurant he cooks in,

I slightly pity the vegetarian visitor here.

Aled has no idea his main course has been slated by the judges.

Despite high praise for his fish dish,

he'll need to deliver a spectacular dessert.

But it's steadfast Hywel

who's up first.

He's determined to deliver the coup de gras

with his rhubarb and strawberry trifle tart.

This layered pastry-based version of the classic trifle,

elevated by Hywel's Michelin standard precision,

earned him top marks yesterday.

With his finish line in sight, Hywel pipes Chantilly cream

atop custard and decorates his base

with basil cress, fresh strawberries,

jelly, pistachio and almond crackling.

There you go.

Will the judges think Hywel's trifle tart could be the ultimate

finale to The People's Banquet?

-Ah, that's just so pretty.

-It is pretty, Prue, but you know - Pfft!

-Oh, go on, I think it's lovely. It's so pretty.

-I'm with Matthew.

I can't wait.

-You can't find the way in because it's got all those bits

-Oh, do stop moaning.

If you're not careful, I won't give you any. Prue, please!

Now look at that. Isn't that just wonderful?

It has all those things that we English love.

-There's custard and cream.

-Jelly and rhubarb.

It's actually a sort of trifle, really, in a tart form.

There's a few elements that are stand-out.

The custard is, by far, the best thing.

I actually think the most effective thing

is the little bits of basil.

The real disappointment, I think,

-for me in this, is actually the pastry.

-A little hard, isn't it?

I think the rhubarb and custard are fantastic.

I'm very happy with the whole thing, except the pastry

is a bit on the tough side.

Can I just ask you, what has this got to do

with the spirit of the whole occasion?

It's just a tart with too much stuff on it.

-Oh, look...

-That could describe you as well!

You won't persuade me this is in way right...

-Would you like a little more?

-Yes, please.

I think this is perfect party food. It's pretty, it's delicious,

it has that little original touch of the basil.

We can't stop eating it. What's anyone complaining about?

Another hung jury for Hywel's tart

leaves the door open for Aled to make a comeback

and it's the dish that redeemed Aled yesterday

from last place and kept him in the competition.

If I'd have got a weak score yesterday, I was going home.

It's a dish I really love eating, it's a dish I really like cooking.

His final course is close to his heart.

A traditional Welsh rice pudding, inspired by his grandmother.

To make it fit for the Great British Menu,

he's adding his own twist to the recipe.

-So what are you doing there now?

-Just making like a sabayon.

I'm going to fold off through the cream right at the last second,

so that makes it a bit more of a luxurious texture,

-like a custard, if you like.

-Very good.

He's also embellishing his dish, with a mixture of macerated cherries

and raspberries, and hazelnut crumble topping to serve.

A good spoonful of the rice pudding.

They can help themselves to the berries and crumble.

-Thank you very much.

-May the best man win.

Will the judges find Aled's home-spun pudding

a comforting end to The People's Banquet?

-I like it when it's down my end.

-What are you going to do,

-make us a crumble?

-What is it?

-Rice pudding.

This could be more dramatic.

There's more rice pudding on the edge of the bowl

than is in it. Dear, oh dear, oh dear.

There's a little something that I like in there,

I like hazelnuts in my crumble.

Much to my scepticism, I find that the crunchy topping

is very addictive.

I particularly love the way the raspberries

-punctuate the creaminess.

-I have to be honest, I like the dish

but I'm expecting that,

really, the rice pudding itself

is going to be a knockout and it's not. It's good, but it's not great.

It's one of those puddings that's going to sit on the table

and people will only leave

when the last scrap is finished from the bowl.

I have loved it, but I am not sure that it is

spankingly spectacular or important enough for this banquet.

Cooking now completed,

the fierce rivals can only wait to be summoned by the judges.

I've got loads of butterflies inside. I'm nervous about

what the judges are thinking. But I can do no more,

I've just got to wait and see.

Only one of them can be crowned Welsh champion.

It's something I have dreamed of all my life, to represent Wales.

I'm nearly there now. I can almost sort of taste it, if you like.

Back in the chamber,

the judges are about to find out which dishes go together

to comprise each menu, although they still don't know

which chef cooked which.

I mean, there are two very distinctive styles.

One is neat, precise, well-ordered.

One is slightly looser, slightly more fluid, slightly more flexible.

I mean there's only one bit of bad cooking

and that was only the vegetables on one dish.

Aled's looked to Welsh tradition

for inspiration for his menu,

featuring tricky accompaniments

for his starter and main

and then paring down his approach

for fish and dessert.

Hywel's menu is also rooted in Welsh custom and then realised

with remarkable culinary craftsmanship,

designed to get people talking.

Matthew, have you by any chance made up your mind?

-I have, yes.

-You have.

-Oliver?

-Prue, I have.

And so have I. So, let's call in the chefs.

-Good luck.

-Best of luck.

Time for the chefs to learn their fate.

Will Aled retain his crown? Or will Hywel clinch the title?

So, welcome, chefs, to the judges' chamber.

BOTH: Thank you

The cooking has been excellent

and there have been one or two terrifically outstanding dishes.

-Matthew, have you made up your mind?

-I have, Prue

-and it's Menu B for me.

-Menu B. And Oliver?

The best menu today, Prue, is Menu A.

Ah, well now, I have chosen Menu B.

So we have a winner.

So let's find out.

Well now, the chef representing Wales

who will go forward to the Great British Menu final, will be...

Hywel Jones. Congratulations, Hywel.

Hywel, you look miserable. You're supposed to look delighted.

I don't think I've been that nervous in my life.

Well, I must say, your menu, there were calls right the way through.

The lobster, a beautifully classic piece of cooking.

Lovely, light, summery dish. The venison Wellington

was outstanding quality. Hugely enjoyable on all counts.

-However, the best dish of the day wasn't yours.

-I loved the turbot.

I've been dying to see a dish like that,

a whole huge fish in a copper and there it was. And it was beautiful.

Anyway, so congratulations

and we look forward to seeing you in the final.

There's some champagne outside, so enjoy it.

-You deserve it.

-Thank you. Thanks very much.

-Well, Aled.

-You better get one of the dishes to the banquet,

if not all four.

-Cheers.

-I knew it was close.

-Congratulations.

-Well done.

ALL: Cheers!

'I knew I was up against it today.'

Fabulous menu, fabulous chef and congratulations to Hywel.

Gobsmacked, absolutely gobsmacked, but I'm absolutely delighted.

I certainly can't let Wales down

and I'll do my absolute best to make sure that I'm successful.

A bit noisy. We're just minding our own business.

Next week, it's the turn of London and the south-east

in the final regional heat

and it's a clash of the Michelin-starred titans.

-Have you just stolen my pan? BLEEP.

-I thought that got hot quickly.

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