London and South East Judging Great British Menu

It's been a week of psychological battle on Great British Menu.

You know it's a dessert course, yeah?

I'm going to win because I'm going to cook immaculate food

and that's what matters.

Phil Howard, a culinary tour de force, who's held two Michelin stars

for the last 14 years, has led from the gun.

Nine out of ten. It's a great dish.

With Marcus McGuinness snapping at his heels.

-It was absolutely beautiful.

-And with the bar set sky high...

BLEEP!

..Graham Garrett took a tumble.

Well done, Phil, it's been a pleasure, mate.

Now, the judges are facing a really difficult choice.

-That is just a beautiful thing.

-The simple skill.

This is a master at work.

Utterly delicious.

Will they favour the radically modern style of Marcus McGuinness?

I've come all this way. I'm facing Phil Howard in the final.

I really want to beat him.

Or be blown away by Phil's confident, classical precision?

It'll be a clear and outright win.

Having endured this week, there's no other option. I have to win.

However, close the race, there can only be one winner.

So the chef going forward is...

Phil only beat Marcus by one point coming into this showdown

for a coveted place in the Great British Menu final.

Feeling confident?

I quietly felt there was a natural pecking order.

I think the results came true to how I hoped it would come out.

For me, it's a just very strange... Little old me

-up against Mr Phil Howard.

-That's good to hear.

But is it time for the old master to move over?

I've got some new and inventive flavour combinations going on,

a few modern techniques that Phil hasn't included in his menu.

So I think I have a very good chance of winning.

But Phil has a great track record as a classical chef

and he's sticking to his guns.

If we all used liquid nitrogen and spherification, it would be incredibly boring.

There've got to be able like me, banging different drums

and going for a different cause.

-Good luck, mate.

-Good luck.

The judges are demanding innovative, awe-inspiring food.

Oliver Peyton, Prue Leith and Matthew Fort

want outstanding menus worthy of an Olympic banquet.

One of the great things about the Olympics is that it gives

an opportunity to showcase British food, British ingredients

and I hope the chefs rise to the challenge.

And as people have memories of great Olympic feats in the past,

I want them to have great memories of this feast.

The brief hasn't changed today but the adjudicators have

and it's their take on the two different styles that matters now.

So, judges - do you feel they're suited to your style?

That we'll have to wait and see.

Obviously, they're not of a generation that was brought up

-with this sort of style of food.

-You're saying they're old like me?

Er... Yeah, go on then.

You're on one end of the spectrum and I'm on the other end of the spectrum.

There's no common ground, if you will.

If that is the case, it'll be a clear and outright win.

-Hopefully, it'll be me, eh?

-HE CHUCKLES

It's always good to dream.

Marcus's plan to live that dream

starts with iced lamb's liver parfait

malt loaf and rose geranium.

It earned him joint first place on Monday,

despite its very modern minimalism.

So, are you going to serve a starter-sized portion today?

-That's a little bit harsh, my friend.

-Just a question.

Set the tone for the day, eh?!

Amongst a range of unusual ingredients,

Marcus is using strongly flavoured lamb's liver in his parfait,

Australian fingerling limes and malt loaf in three different ways.

Phil disapproves.

The best place for malt loaf is about 4:15, any day of the week,

with about half of an inch of unsalted butter on top.

That's where it should be.

But Marcus is also using flower power

in the form of a groundbreaking geranium jelly.

How's your plants? Will you make any changes to the jelly?

-No, I was happy with the jelly, man.

-I thought the jelly was great.

I just use it in a pudding.

Marcus lays down a base of malt-loaf paste and a rose geranium gel

and crumbed malt loaf.

The dish is decorated with salad leaves and, finally,

the lamb's liver parfait.

That way, please. Thank you very much.

I'm confident today.

I increased the size a little bit and it should go down well.

Will the judges think that Marcus's team of lamb's liver parfait,

malt loaf and rose geranium reaches Olympian heights?

-That's ridiculous.

-I know.

What appears to have happened is this little quenelle

of chicken or duck liver parfait seems to have slid down

before coming to a stop!

The thing that slightly annoys me about this,

you get this tiny, little garnish of dried bread,

when in fact you've got quite a big...

-Lump of pate.

-Yeah.

You think, "How am I going to eat this?"

This is almost like a compendium of all modern cooking

from technical wizardry put on one plate.

-Mm.

-The jelly tastes like rose petals.

All those flavours are delicious. I'm not quite sure they go together.

Anyway, let's have a look at this. Now...ah!

-It's lamb's liver.

-Lamb's liver!

-I have never ever come across that before.

-That explains why it's so powerful.

I think it's style over content.

There's a lack of love in the dish,

it's more about technical prowess rather than

expressing your joy of food and love of making people happy.

It's like a sort of adventure for the palate.

But I'm not really enjoying it, I'm just interested in eating it

because it's so extraordinary.

So Marcus's bold attempt to steal an early lead hasn't come off.

Can the seasoned campaigner Phil seize the initiative?

His salad with goat's milk puree, pickled asparagus

and quail's eggs came joint first with Marcus's starter in the week.

To meet the brief, Phil gave it a few twists,

like celeriac wrapped in gold leaf, so they looked like medals.

Anything I can do to help, Phil?

-MARCUS LAUGHS

-It's a fiddly process.

How's a going with the gold leaf, Phil?

They're all right.

If you get through, my friend, are you going to get someone else to do these?

-What was that "if"?!

-MARCUS LAUGHS

Having prepared the salad, Phil's adding another modern touch

with a watercress bavois, which is like a savoury mousse.

There are egg-filled pastry Olympic torches, too,

to be served on the side.

The main part of the salad is a medley of top-quality ingredients,

carefully arranged to look relaxed and free form.

There we go. Thank you.

But the pressure of the competition has got to Phil.

He left part of his dish in the fridge.

I find my watercress bavois, which is irritating.

And, yes, it's there to bring some richness,

but it's not critical, but irritating.

There it is...in all its glory.

-HE LAUGHS

-I do feel a little bit sorry for Phil

but if it's one of those things

that enables me to pip him to the post, then so be it.

Will Phil's omission affect the balance of the dish?

And is a salad with gold medallions and torches

the innovative Olympic starter the judges are looking for?

It's quite big for a first course.

Except it's all veg. And a little quail's egg.

What's in the parcel, that's what I want to know?

-It is delicious.

-Oh, celeriac, or something.

I think this is really delicious.

Very fine, crisp pastry, lovely, cold scrambled egg.

The flavours on this dish are wonderful.

Where is the creative vision here? It's an extraordinarily dull dish.

-That's good.

-Yeah, it's fine, but it's a canape.

You know, it's nothing special.

I'm enjoying it very much but it isn't rocking my world.

I think the gold leaf thing is absolutely awful.

It's like, you know, it's a bit like bling on a salad.

And it's to start off a banquet,

-which is to be

-the

-banquet of the century and what do we get?

An English country garden. It's not good enough!

So Phil's underperformed with his starter

and they are neck and neck as they go into the fish course.

Earlier in the week, Jason felt

there were too many foraged ingredients

in Marcus's pollock dish

and that the elderflower sauce was too strong.

So, Marcus, are you going to tinker with your the fish dish,

based on what Jason had to say?

I think the only thing I'm going to do, Phil,

is just make the elderflower broth slightly less intense.

-That's it?

-That's it.

It doesn't look like a lot but, in terms of balance,

a little can go a long way.

Balancing spherified pea drops with the delicate taste

of pollock and coconut jelly, herbs and flowers

is a tough act, but Marcus is confident.

I think when the judges first see the dish, they'll be impressed.

It's a visually stunning dish. Yes, it's complex,

but it's got depth and, as a dish, when you eat it, it works just fine.

Marcus isn't neglecting the presentation, either,

as he carefully pipettes on the coconut oil.

He knows that first impressions can make a big difference.

Thank you very much.

Has Marcus found a winning formula

by toning down his elderflower fish sauce?

This is more like it.

-That is just a beautiful thing.

-Isn't it pretty?

It's quite a Japanese dish - the fish sauce, the dried skin.

I think the globes - of pea, I think - are absolutely delicious.

Well, I'm going to be absolutely controversial here.

I think this is potentially a delicious dish,

which is completely ruined by inattention to detail.

The fish sauce is almost inedibly disgusting.

I wouldn't go as far as to say it's disgusting, I think it's a very...

Ah! This is like a really pretty person,

who, when you sit down, turns out to be as dull as ditchwater.

The fish tastes rather good.

The veggie bits are beautiful,

and I like the spherified pea puree.

The only thing that's wrong with it is the sauce.

This dish is like someone running up the pole vault

and spectacularly soaring underneath the bar.

I think this chef has tried extremely hard

to be really innovative. If the sauce was humming,

all the ingredients would work extremely well.

I agree with you.

So Marcus' fish course has put a cat amongst the pigeons.

Can Phil sprint into the lead with a complex mackerel

and shellfish dish which earned him nine points in the heats?

The smoked mackerel pate, freshly baked muffins

and oysters are among many elements

that Phil is bringing together,

along with a mackerel tartare wrapped in oyster jelly.

I think Phil's putting himself under a lot of pressure.

He's a perfectionist. He wants to win.

Phil carefully positions mackerel fillets

on his samphire-and-potato salad,

followed by mackerel tartare parcels.

He tops with tempura mussels and finishes with a mackerel veloute.

Two o'clock for the soup. Thank you very much.

Will the judges think that humble Cornish mackerel

can be an Olympic winner?

I think it looks good. It looks exciting, actually,

It's drawing me in here. The soup is delicious.

-It is delicious.

-Beautiful balance between richness and intensity.

Mm-mm. That is good.

Oh!

This is utterly delicious.

What do you think is inside the little jelly bag?

Mackerel tartare.

I think the soup is a triumph.

I think the jelly, the mackerel tartare, is absolutely fabulous.

I really like the potato salad.

This is a thing of great beauty. Fabulous.

-Dish of the day, so far.

-Absolute dish of the day

and it is magnificent.

The simple skill. This is a master at work.

One of the radical things about this is taking mackerel

and elevating it to a place right at the top table of food.

Many people at the banquet will not have tasted anything like this.

I think that is a key thing for me -

making sure that the people at the banquet

are sort of amazed by the gastronomy of Britain

and I think this dish does that.

So Phil's mackerel dish has united the judges.

Has this given him the edge going into the main course?

-Two down, two more to go, eh?

-Yeah.

In an ideal world, I would love the judges

to have scored my two dishes higher than Phil's.

One can only hope and pray.

The arena is set for the big event, the main course.

Phil's going first with roast lamb,

served with lamb pie and vegetables.

The only real innovation is mint sauce in a sphere of jelly,

which collapsed in the week when he left it in the oven too long.

-How's the jelly getting on today?

-PHIL LAUGHS

-Lovely.

-Yeah?

It's exactly the same stage it was at yesterday.

I'm just going to try not to roast it.

Marcus had his own problems with undercooked beef,

but he's determined to keep Phil on the back foot.

Make sure you don't forget anything this time, eh, Phil?

There's no suitable vocabulary in my response to that.

You just keep focused on your beef.

Phil's convinced he's got nothing to worry about.

On that dish, there's also tiny, golden, sweet-and-sour jellies

encased within another jelly

infused with mint.

If that's not a genuine bit of edge and modernism, I don't know what is.

He plates his vegetables, followed by the parsley mash and lamb pie.

Lays his roast loin on a bed of wilted nettles

and tops with pea-and-mint jelly.

Thank you.

No mistakes this time but will Phil's modern touches persuade

the judges this is a 21st-century dish worthy of the Olympics?

I'm slightly disturbed by these blobs of jelly.

It does look remarkably unappealing.

It's the mint sauce to go with the lamb.

Actually, the lamb itself is absolutely beautiful.

And it's quite firm, which I quite like.

-It's almost perfection, actually.

-Mm.

-Very nice. And this...yes, it is a rosti.

-What's inside the rosti?

I would think that's braised shoulder, or something.

-Yep.

-It's very delicious.

It's quite soft but there's enough texture in there

to give your teeth a bit of a work-out.

I think the thing that let's it down - lack of fat.

You can't have lamb without fat.

I'm really enjoying this. This is meat and two veg, isn't it?

-But...

-Is it innovative?

Is it Olympian, is it worthy of this great feast?

And my answer is no.

I think it's a boring dish.

I think it's conventional stuff given a bit of a make-over

by a few blobs on the plate.

That is not enough for me to want this to go to the final banquet.

More bellyflop than swallow dive for Phil, then,

and a real chance for Marcus to make a splash.

His beef dish cooked in hay

and served with beef tendons and beetroot is truly radical

and could be a stroke of genius, if he can make it tender.

So what happens when it comes carving time and you try a bit...

-And it's tough?

-..and it's tough?

I'll leave it off.

-PHIL LAUGHS

-So, either way,

I think it's going to be fine.

Confident in his ability,

Marcus has strained every sinew to master his cheap cut of beef.

Looks better.

And eats better. Very good. It's like a completely different beast.

-Not good for me but good for you.

-That makes me happy.

Very happy.

The height of Marcus's vaulting ambition is to wow the judges

with something very unusual -

beef tendons cooked until they're really soft, like bone marrow.

In the heats, he encased them in batter topped with anchovy.

And the tendons that came with a lovely anchovy.

-Is that still going in there?

-No anchovies today.

-No anchovy?

Marcus!

-There's enough flavour going on.

-Is that what you felt,

-or is that what Jason said?

-That's what I felt.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-I'm disappointed in you.

-Really?

But it's the judges who Marcus is trying to impress.

Calm and measured as always, he plates up the beef blade,

tendons and beetroot, and hits the pass.

Thank you very much.

Can Marcus carve out a commanding lead

with his adventurous beef and beetroot dish?

-Fillet of beef.

-And five different types of beetroot.

This dish is a tragedy, really. The beef, it's shocking. I think, er...

I can't taste the beef.

HE GROWLS

I'm sort of... I'm quite upset here.

The beetroot's all right but what's this all about?

I don't think the beetroot's all right.

This is just a bit too raw, rather too bitter.

Not all beetroot is sweet.

Can we just have a look at that card?

I need to be put out of my misery here.

-Oh!

-'Showcasing rarely used beef tendons.'

-I love marrow,

so I'm going to have a go.

-PRUE GULPS

-I'm sure some people love that.

I do! There's a hysterical reaction going on here.

I can understand you have an objection to the texture of it and that's fine.

But he's put it in there for a purpose

and I think it works in this purpose.

I don't think it deserves the odium and dislike

that you two are heaping on it.

This is a dish trying to be different for the sake of being different.

I would be absolutely ashamed

if we put this down for an Olympian feast.

I don't understand your prejudice. A bit more flavour on the beef

and I think this is on its way to being a really good dish.

So Marcus's main course has divided the judges.

Is the field now open for both chefs to amaze with their desserts?

Phil's gone for rhubarb-and-rice- pudding souffles,

served with ice cream in Olympic-torch cones.

It's an ambitious choice.

My attempt on the brief is to serve a magnificent souffle

to 100 people at the same time.

There's an element of risk but, come the banquet,

you make your mix beforehand and you test it and test it again

and if it works, it will always work.

But getting the mixture of rice pudding,

meringue and rhubarb right for a souffle is only half the battle.

They need to rise properly, too, which didn't happen in the week.

It's crucial his souffles work today,

otherwise, it could scupper his chances.

So feeling confident about reaching the banquet, Phil?

Always confident, always confident.

-Yeah.

-Souffles are in.

-I put four. There's scope for error on one.

The souffles have risen but not as they should have. Again.

Service. Thank you very much. Thank you.

-They just ain't quite rising, for some reason.

-Really?

No, no, there should be more.

Will Phil's hopes sink with his souffles?

It's a brave chef who sends a souffle out

into the judges' chamber.

But doesn't that look beautiful?

It's like a rhubarb crumble, only with a soft top.

Yeah, it is beautiful. Mm-mm.

I love it.

The whole thing is perfect. Really, really, you cannot fault it.

But you cannot possibly say it is suitable

for such an important occasion.

Simply because absolutely no innovation here whatsoever.

There is also a big technical problem of trying to get

souffles of this perfection out in front 100 people at once.

I think if challenged the chef would say,

"I have been innovative, I've got this Olympic torch of a cone

"with a bit of the ice cream inside."

That's where the innovation begins and ends.

-It's an ice cream cone!

-I know!

-With ice cream in it.

It is a dish of wonderful, quiet pleasures, but not of the fireworks and razzmatazz

and general excitement you associate with the Olympic Games.

Phil's made his last throw. Marcus will need to surpass him

to have a chance at a place in the final.

Radical to the end, his dessert features asparagus,

goat's curd and black olives.

I like the fact you are serving asparagus dessert

in a matter of minutes

and you've got raw asparagus staring you in the face.

More asparagus mixed with white chocolate and salt

is sieved over liquid nitrogen.

This is state-of-the-art modern cookery

and Marcus really believes in it.

So, Phil, have I convinced you with asparagus for dessert?

I was far more convinced than I thought I was going to be.

With olive, as well, or is that a step too far?

Olive's a step too far. Stretching my poor classical palate.

It'll be divisive. Those kinds of things are.

It's time to plate up. Marcus has conjured up

all his modern magic in one last thrust to reach the finals.

Now for the lap of the gods. Once again.

Will Marcus's revolutionary dessert

run Olympic rings around Phil's souffle?

-Asparagus as a pudding, that's a first.

-It certainly is.

Is this cheese? Almost impossible to tell.

What are the dark, little blobs? Hang on.

PRUE LAUGHS The prime ingredients are

-asparagus.

-Yes.

Black olives and goat's curd.

Well...

Don't even start, Matthew. I mean, come on.

This is just absolutely terrible.

I think it's a cheese and a pudding course rolled into one.

If you put everything together, it tastes delicious.

What you need to do is... He needs to make a tartlet case

out of the biscuit and they'd have to have it all

when they took mouthful.

-It's like asparagus cheesecake.

-Exactly.

That would be a wow. That would be an eyebrow-raiser.

That would be fantastic.

To me, the secret of that is the olive, because olive gives it

a touch of saltiness and that pulls everything together

and makes it work.

The bits are there, they just need to be pulled together.

With the cooking over, the chefs are left to reflect

on their performance, while the judges deliberate over the results.

I've come this far, I've got to walk back into work tomorrow morning

and, er, you know, I'm going to have to spill the beans

and I want to win.

It's strange to think I have a chance of making it through

to the final and I want to get there.

Heads or tails?

-Heads, I win.

-Yeah?

I'm off to the Olympics.

It's time for the judges to review the dishes on each menu.

One menu, you might say, is more radical than the other.

One was, I think, more skilfully done.

Phil's menu uses classic favour combinations

with modern touches

embellished with Olympic symbols.

While Marcus has come up

with a radically modern menu,

bringing surprising ingredients together.

But the judges will only know which chef created each menu

once they've chosen their winner.

Enough chat. Matthew, have you made up your mind?

-Yes, Prue, I have.

-Oliver?

Prue, I sure have.

Let's call in the chefs.

For Phil and Marcus, the long wait is over.

One chef will go on to the final -

just a step away from cooking at the fabulous Olympic banquet.

The other will be going home.

Welcome, chefs. We have had a pretty heated debate today.

We haven't always agreed about every dish but it's not about individual dishes,

it is about menus and we have to choose by the menu.

Matthew, have you made up your mind?

-I have, Prue, and it's Menu A for me.

-And Oliver?

Prue, it's also Menu A for me.

Well, I have Menu A, as well, so we have a straight winner.

But you don't know, and we don't know, who cooked Menu A,

so let's find out.

Ha!

So the chef going forward to represent London and the South East

in the Great British Menu finals is...

..Phil Howard.

Congratulations, Phil.

Well done, my friend.

So, Phil, what does feel like?

I haven't been in this position for a long time, I have to say.

My own boss for over 20 years, it's like going back to school.

On one level, I'm genuinely shocked.

-There was some outstanding cooking by Marcus.

-Marcus?

Yeah, disappointed, but, for me, no shame at all.

I'm more than happy losing to Phil.

The tone of the two menus - one had more perfectly realised dishes

than the other.

I think that, Marcus, your menu had the exuberance of youth.

It was fizzing with ideas

and, sometimes, not all the ideas married up together.

We had exactly that debate the whole way through today -

innovation and fireworks against classic cooking.

But, frankly, what finally did it for you, Phil,

was things like that mackerel dish, which was the dish of the day.

It was an outstanding dish.

It may not have been quite as radical and innovatory

as Marcus's menu but it gave so much pleasure all the way through.

-OLIVER:

-I think

if we take the vegetable starter going forward in the competition,

there is an element of creativity that's needed to come into play.

I think you should rethink that dish.

It's just not exciting enough. It was a lovely brasserie salad.

So, chefs, thank you for a great day.

Commiserations, Marcus, and congratulations, Phil.

-And thank you.

-Thank you very much.

I am very disappointed I haven't made it through to the final.

I lost to Phil Howard. I'm happy with that. My head's held high.

Well done, mate.

I feel absolutely chuffed to bits, I have to say.

This week has been a steep learning curve and I will build on it

and come back bigger and better.

Next week, Wales's finest enter the ring -

returning contenders Richard Davies and James Sommerin.

-We're using liquorice.

-Do think Angela likes liquorice?

-I don't know.

Can I 'fess up? I don't like liquorice.

And facing up to one-time banquet winner Steve Terry.

Nearly everybody's had lemon meringue pie and trifle.

Not my lemon meringue pie and not my trifle, all right?

-And it's personal.

-They're gunning for me. The young guns want to get the old boy out.

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