London and South East Starter Great British Menu

-Fire!

-Am I irritating you yet, lad?

-You are, yeah.

BLEEP!

That'll be my brain on Saturday night, just sitting there, bubbling away.

The nation's most talented chefs are going all out to create

ground-breaking food for a spectacular Olympic feast.

-There have been extraordinary highs...

-Daniel, another exceptional piece of cooking.

..and crushing lows.

This guy took a hell of a risk and fell off the edge of the cliff.

Fighting to represent London and the south-east,

and with five Michelin stars between them is rising star Marcus McGuinness...

I'm going into the kitchen today all guns blazing.

..award-winning chef Graham Garrett...

It's the Olympics. This is the one to win.

..and culinary heavyweight Phil Howard.

In the world of cooking, I guess I'm a big cheese.

Tonight it's the starter, and Phil's quick to assert himself over the competition.

I run the London Marathon every year

and out of the original crew that used to compete,

me and Gordon and Marcus and Michel Roux, I think I am still the fastest.

In this year of the 2012 Olympic Games,

our chefs are pushing themselves physically and mentally...

Go for it.

..taking inspiration from sporting legends...

You want to absolutely deliver your absolute maximum.

Oh, look at that! It's huge!

..in their bid to create awe-inspiring food worthy of our world-class athletes.

That is amazing.

Watching their every move this week is a straight-talking culinary star and veteran of the competition.

He'll accept nothing short of ground-breaking brilliance.

It's Jason Atherton.

I want to see these chefs create dishes what wow me, knock me off my feet.

They've got to make sure their food hits Olympic heights.

One soup, two tongue and three pork.

First up is London-born chef Graham Garrett

of Michelin-starred The West House in Kent.

-One pork, one bass, one mallard.

-Yes, chef.

He's determined to cook beyond his usual classical style

and prove he's a worthy contender.

The way I see it, it's about really pushing yourself.

To me, that's the spirit of the Olympics.

My strategy is to use different flavours

that wouldn't necessarily always be together,

and I'm trying to push those flavours to the limit.

-Good luck, Phil.

-May the force be with you.

-Thank you very much.

I'll grab my shopping! See you later.

-How are you?

-How you doing?

-Name your dish for me.

Pickled rabbit, wild garlic quinoa and a frozen rabbit liver parfait.

You've got, obviously, your rabbit here.

Got the rabbit, going to take the loins off, roll them in spice,

pickle the loins, cooked in a water bath.

And then you're going to use the liver, am I correct?

Yeah, I'm going to make like a chicken liver parfait,

-but a frozen version.

-And then the rest of the dish?

I've also got some pickling going on with some carrots

and some mushrooms with a little hazelnut salted caramel tuile.

-Right. So there's a lot going on there.

-A bit of a balancing act, I think, to get it right.

-You're up against two two-star chefs.

-Yeah, I am.

-What's innovative about this dish?

Certainly the combination and the cooking methods I've not really seen together before.

For me, it's certainly pushing, it's certainly challenging.

So Graham believes that pickles and parfait

will bring him home the gold with today's starter.

But it's a tricky balance of flavours to pull off.

One element of Graham's dish is his frozen liver parfait.

He's using rabbit livers, they're very, very difficult to get right.

He's pickling the rabbit. He's also pickling his vegetables.

For me, this dish has got too much vinegar going on.

It's going to take quite a good chef to make that into a fantastic dish.

One more ravioli in the water, one octopus, yeah?

Next is rising star Marcus McGuinness. One of the youngest chefs in the competition,

he's come through the ranks of some of the country's top kitchens

and is now head chef at two-Michelin-starred London restaurant Hibiscus.

The pickles as well, please.

Marcus is hoping to make a splash with his menu,

combining unusual global ingredients with state-of-the-art techniques and presentation.

Definitely confident about what I can do.

Some of the flavour combinations I can put together

are definitely very different, sets me apart.

It maybe makes me a little bit unique.

-Hello, Marcus.

-Good morning.

-What are you going to be cooking for me?

Iced lamb liver parfait, malt loaf and rose geranium.

Obviously we've got the lamb's liver here,

which is quite unusual to make a parfait with.

-You're doing a frozen parfait?

-Yeah.

-Graham, you're doing a frozen parfait.

-Yeah.

I thought I was being different until today!

How are we going to be serving that?

I'm going to have a little malt loaf puree and some little crispy bits.

I used to eat this all the time when I was a kid, it was my mum's bail-out for dessert.

Oh, yeah, I used to have it for my sandwiches all the time, it's fantastic.

-These are fingerling limes, right?

-Yes.

They've just got tiny little pearls inside,

so it's just going to bring some acidity to the dish.

And then the geranium. Again, what is that going to add?

It brings a real sort of floral headiness to it all.

Olympians stretch themselves.

Why is this dish going to stretch you as a professional chef?

Hopefully the way everything will come together,

because it's quite unusual and something most people wouldn't have seen before.

Marcus is going out on a limb with a daring iced lamb's liver parfait

with malt loaf, fingerling limes and fragrant rose geranium,

a dish that might not be to everyone's taste.

Lamb's liver can be very strong.

It's completely different to any other liver, it's very powerful in flavour.

He's got some very high notes going on there with fingerling lines

and rose geranium.

He's going to have to work hard to make sure these ingredients are perfectly balanced.

We're going three guinea fowl, yeah? Go.

Last up, it's culinary heavyweight Phil Howard.

A force to be reckoned with in the restaurant industry,

he's maintained two Michelin stars at his London restaurant The Square

for over 14 years with impeccable classical dishes.

Two sole, one bass.

Fiercely competitive Phil's confident he's got what it takes to secure gold.

I have brought in elements of innovation into my menu

to ensure that it wipes the floor with the rest of them.

So, what have we got here?

The dish I'm doing is a salad of spring vegetables with a goat's milk puree.

-Then I'm going to do some little deep-fried quail eggs.

-And this?

The Olympics starts and finishes with the arrival of the torch,

so I'm going to make a little cone and I'm going to fill it

with a quail egg mayonnaise with a little bit of asparagus.

And then I'm going to make some little gold medals

using some celeriac and carrot.

What makes this innovative?

I've never been served a salad with little gold medals sprinkled over it. But ultimately,

I'm going to win the competition because I'm going to cook immaculate food,

and that's what matters.

There's a lot of Michelin stars in this kitchen,

so I'm really interested in seeing what you're all going to achieve.

-Welcome, all, and good luck.

-Thanks.

Phil is confident his spring salad with goat's milk puree,

edible Olympic torch and medals is worthy of gold,

but is it style over content?

We all know him in our industry as the man who's been at the top for so many years.

The dish sounds very simple.

He's gone a little bit gimmicky with the torch and medals.

Is it going to be innovative?

That's what I'm looking for in his presentation.

All three chefs are quick off the blocks.

With five Michelin stars between them,

the fight for Olympic glory is going to be fierce.

I remember a few years back walking round judging you, Marcus.

-So you guys have got history, then?

-It was what, six years ago?

Young Chef Of The Year. Phil was chief judge and I was taking part.

In the world of cooking, I guess I'm a big cheese.

And that's not through luck.

It's inevitable that they will see me as perhaps the top dog.

With Phil judging you, then, how did you do?

-Well, for some reason, he decided to make me winner.

-Really?

-Yeah.

It was the 50 quid backhander that did it!

I'm not really intimidated with Phil's reputation.

He is a great chef, but you know what they say about young blood.

Marcus is crumbling the malt loaf for his puree,

but Phil's turning his attention to Graham,

who's coating his rabbit loin in a spice mix before pickling.

Are you doing stuff that you have on the menu?

I'm doing stuff that could comfortably sit on my menu,

but it's not necessarily stuff and techniques that I've done before.

Unlike yourself, I've not got teams of people or anything,

there's me and one other.

-Two in the kitchen, that's quite serious commitment.

-It works.

It's worked for ten years.

Michelin-starred chef Graham Garrett opened his restaurant

in Biddenden, Kent, ten years ago.

But it wasn't always quiet village life.

Graham first tasted success as a rock star drummer

with '80s band Ya Ya.

My other life, as I like to call it.

We used to play and tour and record and write songs for films and you name it

until it got to the point where, you know,

you think, "Maybe it's time to get a proper job!"

He'd always had a passion for food,

so decided to swap his drumsticks for chef's knives.

I lied my way into catering college

by making out I was a chef on day release.

It just ballooned from there, really.

Abandoning his usual simple style,

he's prepared to do whatever it takes to secure gold,

including experimenting with new techniques and ingredients.

I knew it was going to take me out of my comfort zone.

I couldn't just go and do what I would normally do.

His Olympic bid is backed by the whole family.

When my dad got the call for the Great British Menu

we were in Spain in a villa, and basically from that point onwards,

that was the end of the holiday, it was just pure sitting there, thinking what he was going to do.

And Graham's quick to use his son as a guinea pig

for his gastronomic innovations.

-It's an ice cream, but it's made of rabbit livers.

-That's really nice.

I know what it means to him, he won't admit it.

He tells me that he can't sleep for the last month or whatever,

so he really, really would love to have a dish on that banquet.

It would mean the world to him.

It's a one-off, the Olympics coming to this country,

so to be part of that would be kind of being part of history.

Graham's preparing the rabbit livers for his frozen parfait.

Since Marcus is also making a frozen liver parfait,

he's keen to size up the competition.

So you got the family seal of approval, Graham?

Well, I tried a bit of the liver parfait out on my son, yeah.

It went all right.

Obviously it's very strange that me and Graham have both chosen to do an iced parfait.

Obviously great minds think alike, hey!

You know, we're both using the same technique, but different livers,

different ingredients, so we'll see how they compare.

Marcus is confident his frozen parfait will come out on top

with his use of radical flavour combinations,

but will they be to everyone's taste?

You're using rose geranium. It's a bit unusual. It's very powerful.

How are you working out the balance on that?

Because the lamb liver is quite strong as it is,

so the rose geranium there, it just brings a nice sort of light headiness.

-It's a nice, balanced, light dish.

-OK.

The mix of flavours in my starter is definitely quite unusual,

pairing lamb liver with rose geranium

and malt bread I don't think has really been done before.

Classical chef Phil's not convinced by Marcus's daring combinations.

You know, for me, it sounds like a random bunch of ingredients.

That's the great thing about it all, though, my friend.

-There's room for everyone, you know what I mean?

-Yeah, absolutely.

I just don't get it, that's the truth.

I'm an absolute firm believer

that classical combinations of flavour are the most harmonious.

Marcus has built a career on his trademark unconventional flavours.

As head chef of a two-Michelin-star London restaurant,

he knows what it takes to be at the top of your game, whatever the arena.

I think there's a lot of parallels in between chefs like me

and the Olympians. The amount of sacrifices you have to make,

amount of time they train, amount of time we cook in the kitchen.

Very little social life.

But I think it's all worth it.

Like our world-class athletes,

he's got his eye firmly on the finish line.

It would be a great honour to get to the final banquet

and be able to cook for all those great Olympians.

Marcus wants to test his lamb's liver parfait on a fellow kitchen magician,

chef Nuno Mendes.

Nuno trained at the legendary El Bulli, and is now head chef at Viajante,

a restaurant famed for innovation, in trendy east London.

So if you'd like to try this for me and see what you think about the flavour combinations.

Mmm. the depth of flavour is incredible.

Iced liver parfait is not something that you find on a regular basis,

so I think it's nice pushing the judges to think of ingredients in a different format.

Marcus's philosophy and the way he chooses flavours is quite unique.

It shows a creativity and it also shows the craftsmanship, how good he is.

-I wish you the best of luck with this.

-Oh, thank you very much.

My strategy is to wow the judges with my flavour combinations.

Hopefully it will take me to the banquet.

Phil's taking the opposite tack,

relying on classic flavour combinations which he's hoping

to elevate to new heights with innovative presentation.

He's made his Olympic torches and quail egg mayonnaise filling,

but has he played it too safe?

Jason is keen to find out.

-Mr Howard, how's it going so far?

-It's going all right.

The innovation in this dish, Phil,

you're happy you've stretched yourself far enough?

Yeah, I'm about to start making some little gold medals.

It's one of those things that can either be really innovative or can be a little bit gimmicky.

I have had reservations about my menu, I thought, "Have I just been a bit stubborn

"and thought I'm just going to hold on to my style of cooking too much?"

But, this is what I believe in and that's what I have to do.

It sounds the most simple out of all three,

because it is just a spring vegetable salad,

so it's making sure the two things alongside it, the torch and the medals,

not only makes the dish stand out, but also gives it the wow factor.

He probably thinks it's not edgy enough, not quite ground-breaking enough,

but he'll love eating it. That's what matters.

Supremely confident in his classical cooking style,

Phil Howard is a leading figure on the British restaurant scene, with a formidable reputation.

What's in that pan? It sounds too hot, whatever it is, yeah?

I love cooking, it's the one thing in this world I feel quite gifted with.

It sounds a bit cringy but it's the thing I feel I was put here to do.

But he doesn't just drive to excel in the kitchen.

He's a devoted marathon runner and has competed in over 20 races.

I'm competitive. I like to be fit, I like to be focused,

I like to be sharp, and there's no two ways about it.

Something he feels he has in common with our world-class athletes.

I have immense respect for Olympians.

For anybody to reach the very pinnacle of their game is always fascinating.

He's convinced he's got what it takes to win gold.

I wouldn't dream of entering a competition without thinking I could win it.

The really important factor, I think, is producing sharp,

accurate, technically accomplished cooking.

Quality will always shine through.

Phil feels certain his sporting prowess already makes him a front-runner.

I run the London Marathon every year,

and out of the original crew that used to compete, which was me

and Gordon and Marcus and Michel Roux,

I think I am still the fastest.

Graham's blanching the wild garlic for his quinoa

and Phil's preparing his goat's milk puree.

All three chefs are hoping their starters have got what it takes

to secure them Olympic glory and Jason's expectations are sky-high.

This is about stretching themselves,

showing me that they deserve to be the chef cooking at the Olympic feast.

With plating up fast approaching,

Marcus is preparing the garnish for his dish,

a well-known British teatime treat, which has caught Jason's eye.

-So we're slicing the malt loaf?

-Yeah, that's it, man.

Then I'm just going to pop it into an oven at 90 degrees

and it will just dehydrate and make really perfectly thin crisps.

And using that like a piece of brioche?

-That's where the inspiration came from. Instead of a brioche.

-OK, OK.

Marcus was slicing his malt loaf.

He's using it as a crisp, a puree and some crumbs.

Is that overkill with one ingredient? Only time will tell.

Graham's also running the risk of overplaying one ingredient in his dish.

He's used vinegar to pickle both his spiced rabbit loin

and his vegetables, something Jason's concerned about.

-Hiya.

-How's it going?

-Yeah, it's going all right.

The pickling of the rabbit,

that's something what can potentially have some pitfalls, making sure that

the meat doesn't go too dry, making sure the vinegar's not too powerful.

-What have you done to try and prevent that?

-I've spiced the rabbit separately

and I've made the pickling mix separately. I've now put them in a vac-pack bag.

Hopefully that should stop it drying out.

I'm worried about the pickle going round his rabbit in the water bath.

He's got to be very careful that he balances that vinegar absolutely perfectly.

The flavours that I'm using, there's a lot of vinegars and pickles

and sweet elements, so it is getting them all to work and balanced.

But it's young gun Marcus plating up first.

He starts with a smear of malt loaf puree,

followed by the rose geranium jelly, fingerling lime,

malt loaf crumbs and rose geranium leaves.

He finishes with a quenelle of the controversial frozen lamb's liver parfait

and a malt loaf crisp.

Are his unique flavour combinations suitable for world-class athletes?

-Happy, Marcus?

-I think so, yeah.

Is this the dish you think is going to take Great British Menu to that Olympic feast?

-Well, I think you'll have to tell me, but I love the flavours, I love the textures.

-Let's go.

Will Marcus's daring iced lamb's liver parfait with rose geranium,

malt loaf and fingerling lime fit the Olympic brief?

-Are you happy with the presentation?

-Very much so.

Presentation is beautiful. It does look small for a starter.

It's very petite. It's super-petite.

And you're happy with the balance of that dish?

For me, you taste the parfait,

then you get the rose coming through, that lovely floralness.

Is there too much malt loaf going on there for you?

Again, I'm happy with the balance.

It just need that extra bit of sweetness just to balance the dish.

All the flavours that you got, are they in harmony for you, or not?

-Or a bit weird?

-They're a bit weird for me. They're just weird.

With lamb's liver, not too powerful?

I quite like robust flavours. It tastes like lamb liver parfait.

I'm getting a bit of a bitter aftertaste from the liver, it's a bit strong.

Do you think that rose is too strong for the dish?

It needs a strong rose flavour to give it the balance.

The jelly doesn't really do it for me.

Do you feel you've done enough with this dish to go all the way to the final Olympic feast?

It suits the brief, and I think it's a lovely dish, so hopefully they will agree.

It's certainly different and out there.

But an unusual combination of flavours that don't really come together.

-So it's not the winning dish, then?

-I don't think that's the winning dish.

-No.

Well, I'm glad that's out the way.

I was more than happy with my dish.

I like it, hopefully I'll get a good score.

Next to be scrutinised is Phil.

He puts the finishing touches to his celeriac gold medals.

Will they elevate his simple salad to Olympic heights or are they just a gimmick?

My dish, it's not a complex dish. There's nothing to hide behind.

It works when the whole is more than the sum of the parts and that's my challenge.

He adds a smear of goat's milk puree,

followed by the spring vegetables,

crushed hazelnuts and grated goat's cheese,

before finishing with the gold medals and deep-fried quail's eggs.

But can a simple salad soar to Olympian heights?

-Happy, Phil?

-Yeah, I am. Yeah.

-And you think you've hit the brief?

-Has this dish stretched you?

-Yeah, I think it has hit the brief.

But it's an understated take on the brief,

which is where I come from. I'm happy with it.

Will Phil's classical combination of spring vegetables,

goat's cheese and quail eggs fit the brief for an Olympic feast,

or has he played it too safe?

Do you feel that the judges will go, "Wow,

"this is a dish we have to put through to the Olympic feast?"

It's a really purist plate of food.

That is really important to me, and I think that is a cracker.

I don't think it's fitting the brief.

Lovely dish, but I think he's maybe fallen a little bit short on this one.

You feel you got the seasoning right on that dish?

Some things are spot on.

Yeah, I think most of it's pretty good, actually.

Maybe for me it needs a touch more seasoning.

-I think I'm with you on that.

-Yeah?

-Yep.

And the little torch? You feel the judges will get that?

-The whole thing with the gold medals and...

-I don't know.

-So we have a little torch. We've got our medals.

-I'm personally...

I am not into the gimmicky thing

but I think he's done it with a bit of style.

Happy with the texture of the goats milk?

It's not as smooth as it could be.

It should be absolutely glossy-smooth

but it's not affecting its flavour.

-The textures and flavours are great.

-It's nice.

But we don't want nice, do we?

It's an Olympic challenge. I don't think nice is going to get it.

There we go, my friend.

-Would there be anything you would change?

-No.

That was, er... It was all right, actually, I think.

I'm pleased with what I produced.

I think it would probably be worth a seven or eight. An eight.

Last up to the pass is Graham,

and not everything's going according to plan.

His hazelnut tuile was too thick

so he's daring to make a replacement very late in the game.

Getting the last-minute stages of panic, but...

have you left yourself too much to do,

-or are you on top of all your jobs?

-Just about on top.

You seem to be rolling this quite a few times.

Just trying to get it thin, and it keeps going cold, back in the oven...

And do you think this dish has really stretched you, Graham?

-Is this the Olympic dish?

-It's stretched me.

Yeah, I hope it's the Olympic dish. It's certainly stretched me, yeah.

Making a tuile like that

can potentially make it taste a bit more like a dessert.

I'm worried about the pickle

and I'm curious to see how he balances those flavours.

Pan-frying the pickled rabbit loin,

Graham races to finish the other elements of his dish.

Can he bring it all together in time?

This is not easy. He's set himself a mammoth task.

He's really pushing himself. I mean, I applaud him completely.

Graham serves his wild garlic quinoa

followed by the pickled rabbit loin, carrots and mushrooms,

and finishes with his frozen liver parfait and hazelnut tuile.

Has he managed to pull it off?

-There you go, chef.

-Do you think this dish is the gold medal dish?

I think it's got as much chance as either of the other two dishes

that I've tasted today.

Yep? And you feel you've stretched yourself?

I've certainly stretched myself.

Has Graham pushed himself too far with his starter of pickled rabbit

and frozen liver parfait?

-Happy with that dish?

-Yeah, I am.

To get all these elements together and getting the balance right,

definitely.

-Is it groundbreaking enough? Do you think it fits the brief?

-It does.

-For me, Graham's definitely pushed himself.

-Yes.

-And if that doesn't...

You know, that's what it's all about, really.

Are you happy with the texture of the parfait?

I wanted it to be quite loose-textured,

almost like an ice cream.

The texture, as it sits, is becoming a little bit dodgy, I think,

-as it warms through.

-But flavour-wise...

and the hazelnuts bring an extra dimensional to it.

There seems to be a lot going on.

-You're completely confident that you can get this out for 100 people?

-Yes.

-Exactly like it looks?

-Absolutely.

I've seen more complicated dishes do for 100. The fact that

there are two temperatures is an issue but it's doable for a banquet.

There's a lot of pickling going on.

You pickled the rabbit and the vegetables.

Do you feel there's not too much vinegar in the dish?

No, I think it kind of balances out with the creaminess of the parfait.

There's quite a lot going on. The vinegar with the pickle, the spices.

But for me, the balance of flavours works quite well.

Yeah, I absolutely agree. I absolutely agree.

Right...

Um... He's a tough cookie, isn't he?

He doesn't give anything away. Maybe not ten out of ten.

I don't know how Jason will score things

but it would be nice to get a high mark to kick it all off for me.

All three starters tasted, all the chefs can do now

is nervously await Jason's scores.

-So how did it go, then, my friend?

-You know what, I can't call that.

Having seen all three, completely different dishes.

-Not a clue. He didn't give anything away.

-No, absolutely no.

But they're all in with a chance, like you say.

-We'll certainly find out whether he likes liver for his first course.

-That's true.

Time to find out if Jason thinks they've struck culinary gold.

Marcus, we'll start off with your dish.

Marcus, your iced lamb liver parfait with malt loaf and roast geranium.

I felt it was the most original dish out of the three.

I felt the parfait was strong but I don't mind that.

The rose gel was not too overpowering.

The finger lime worked well

and the malt loaf... I got the whole thing of using it like a brioche.

But...

..it was the size what sort of let it down from being

what I thought was a great dish into being a brilliant dish.

Phil, your salad of spring vegetables with goat's milk puree,

pickled asparagus and quails eggs.

Every element of that dish was cooked to perfection.

I had concerns about the milk puree.

The torch and the gold medal thing

could have been a little bit gimmicky.

I felt you pulled it off.

But...did I feel that dish stretched you as a chef?

Could you've gone that extra little bit

and gone out of your comfort zone?

Graham,

your pickled rabbit, wild garlic quinoa,

frozen rabbit liver parfait was a great dish.

I was a little bit concerned - was there too much pickling going on?

But the balance of flavours was good.

I felt that was right. I felt the texture was right.

Presentation, you could have stretched it a little bit further.

Again, big worry, can you execute this for 100 people?

Again, I'm not so sure about that.

So, guys, we go on to the scoring.

Marcus....

..I'm giving you...

-..a very good eight out of ten. Well done.

-Thank you.

Phil...

..I'm giving you...

-..eight out of ten. Well done.

-Thank you.

Graham...

..seven out of ten.

-Well done.

-Thanks.

All the dishes were great.

There's no two ways about it, so well done, guys. Good start.

-Thanks.

-Thanks.

-So after day one, young gun Marcus

and heavyweight Phil are level pegging

but with Graham only one point behind,

the fight is just getting started.

I'm feeling really good about getting the same score as Phil.

Yeah, it's fantastic.

Eight out of ten's a good mark but it's not Olympic excellence.

-That's got to be a ten.

-One point separating us at the moment.

I mean, that's nothing. Three courses to go.

It's still all to play for.

Tomorrow it's the fish course, and Phil's smoking out the opposition.

Is this a tactic, this smokescreen there between us?

Graham is determined to take the lead.

I want to end today being in front of the other guys. That's what I intend to do.

But his comeback is threatened by an octopus disaster.

BLEEP!

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