Wales Judging Great British Menu

The Welsh fight for the Olympic feast has been fierce.

Definitely try and stop you getting there this time.

-Maybe, yeah.

-Ha-ha-ha!

Nearly everybody's had lemon meringue pie.

Not MY lemon meringue pie and not MY strawberry trifle, all right?

Yesterday's nail-biting finish

saw Richard Davies lose out by a whisker.

Richard, huge commiserations.

Leaving two old foes to face the judges.

If I've got anything to do with it, you won't be coming back.

If you've got anything to do with it, I won't be coming back.

With former champion Stephen Terry striving for four complex dishes...

Finding this one a bit of a push, Stephen?

This is my Achilles heel when it comes to timing.

..and Michelin starred James Sommerin

stretching his skill to the limit...

James, it's just fallen. Can you lay it down?

What a pain in the backside.

..things promise to get heated in the chamber.

I don't think this dish breaks any new ground at all.

This is delicious.

But it's not to the brief, Prue!

We're both competitive. I'm hugely competitive.

I'm confident in my dishes, and I'm going to make sure he knows that.

This regional final is a rematch between two old adversaries.

Last time they went head-to-head,

Michelin starred James Sommerin's modern cheffy style won out,

and he's determined to repeat the trick today.

The end goal in sight is for me to come first

and Stephen to go home, so I've just got to keep that in my mind.

I'm just going to push myself to the nth degree today.

Unlike James, Stephen Terry has a past banquet win under his belt,

but he's had mixed success this week for his quirky take on the brief.

Today's all about winning.

I want that opportunity to be in the final event.

This is like the semi-final, it's a big day. Big day.

Well, there's a story.

-Photo finish, eh?

-That is a photo finish.

It couldn't have been any closer.

-Bit of deja vu.

-It is. Here we are again.

-Yeah.

We know what we've got to do.

Yeah, head down, push on and then you can go home.

We shall see, chief. We shall see.

The chefs have been challenged to create virtuoso dishes

that reflect the talent and ambition of Olympian athletes.

Sitting in judgment on their efforts

are three of the food world's most demanding palettes.

Prue Leith, Oliver Peyton and Matthew Fort.

These are two very, very competitive men.

James, we know, is always gunning for it.

Stephen, I think, disguises that sort of steely will.

D'you know, in this competition, you have to express yourself.

You have to create something different

in order to fulfil the brief, and that means taking a risk.

The other thing that Olympians need to do is train.

The guys who've really thought about their dishes,

who've really practised them and have honed them do better.

This is the Olympic Games of cooking. This is what it's about.

As seasoned competitors,

both chefs are all too aware of what lies ahead.

We all know, there's nothing worse

than standing in that chamber at the end. The Chamber of Doom.

With so much history between them, the stakes are sky high.

How do you feel about competing against me again?

-Quite nervous.

-Having done it before?

-You're like Wile E Coyote.

You don't know how you're going to play it.

I focus on my strengths,

and my strengths are not doing rocket science.

Stephen's first to face the music

with his Opening Ceremony, a warm pigeon salad with wild boar lardons,

risotto cubes and caramelised hazelnuts,

which won a disappointing six earlier in the week.

Angela's comments with your starter,

she just didn't think it was overly groundbreaking.

Changed it in any way, or...?

The only thing I've done, I've added a little bit of truffle oil

to the risotto, so it's got a little bit more depth of flavour.

It is what it is at the end of the day.

Despite the simplicity of his dish,

Stephen struggled with timing in the heats,

when his unpractised chicken liver sabayon didn't thicken.

Had a few issues in the week but I've written myself a note today.

-Be on time.

-Have you?

-Not too worried about that, to be honest.

I'm not going to be late for the judges.

The last thing I want to do is start upsetting them,

so the last thing I want to do is be late.

This time, the sabayon is playing ball,

but is a salad of pigeon breasts

with wild boar bacon, asparagus and hazelnuts

a dish fit for Olympians?

It is what it is, it's probably my weakest dish.

Can imagine a worst-case scenario in the judges' chamber,

but to be honest, I've got my strongest dishes to follow,

so I'm not too worried.

They're not picking dishes, they're picking menus.

-Well, I hope there's something really exciting in there.

-Me, too.

What have we got here, do you think?

Well, the first thing I ate was a caramelised hazelnut,

and very delicious it was.

The quality of the pigeon's great, I love the dandelion.

It's a beautiful bit of cooking, but I don't think it's Olympian.

It's a very well balanced dish.

It's got a crunch, it's got unctuousness, it's got freshness.

Fundamental basis of this dish is extremely conservative salad,

on which the chef has said,

"Oh, crikey, I've just remembered the brief.

"Let's have some candied hazelnuts.

"That's not enough. Let's have a little deep-fried rice."

OK, it's not the most imaginative thing I've ever eaten in my life,

but it's certainly unusual and delicious,

and I think you two have just

got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning.

Stephen's straightforward salad has split the panel.

Can James do any better

with his riff on roast chicken with sage and onion,

featuring a sage panna cotta, onion consomme

and confit chicken wings?

His groundbreaking onion pearls, made using liquid nitrogen,

failed to pack a punch with veteran Angela,

who gave the dish a six in the heats.

-So have you intensified the flavour in these onion balls?

-Yeah, I have.

They look more like lumps than balls. Is that a problem, or...?

-No, I've used exactly the same sort of mix.

-Right.

James is contrasting the cold pearls with a hot onion consomme.

And for the judges, he's injected a touch of luxury.

So you've added gold leaf to the consomme, now?

Yeah, Olympic theme, gold, gold medal.

Hopefully, it'll be a gold medal dish.

I'm pushing my boundaries,

and I've made probably one of the best consommes I've ever made.

I'm getting excited, I can feel the adrenaline rush.

My hands are starting to shake.

By combining different textures and temperatures,

James hopes to surprise the judges' tastebuds.

But will they think his modern techniques

break culinary boundaries?

I have to say, it doesn't look very appetising.

Somebody's working here on temperature contrast

as well as flavour contrast.

I'm not sure what they are, but they are stone cold.

-Oh, they're revolting too.

-Oh, wait a minute.

The onion pearls are created

by dropping onion puree into liquid nitrogen.

The idea of the contrast, pouring the hot onto the cold, really lovely.

-I think it just needs refinement.

-I love the broth.

I think it's a really beautifully flavoured thing,

and a bit of gold leaf. What's wrong with a bit of gastro bling?

By the time the onion pearls have melted

and the panna cotta is bust up and curdled slightly,

it's not a pretty sight, is it?

I feel like I should be whipping myself for not loving this dish more,

because this chef is making a real go of it, trying to be successful.

I think it's not there yet. All it needs is a little tweak here,

little tweak there, little bit of lifting,

little bit of, you know, and it would just be tickety-boo.

So, neither starter has bowled over the judges.

Now, it's the fish course,

and having scored higher than Stephen in the heats,

James is feeling confident.

His fish dish, on the day,

I thought it was probably the poorest dish of the three,

erm, with mine coming out on top.

So, you know, it's going to go one way or the other.

I only hope it's the other.

Stephen's up first, with his seafood platter,

presented in edible Olympic rings and featuring nine different types

of fish and shellfish.

I thought your fish dish was interesting. Lots going on.

Maybe, for me, maybe, a little bit too much going on.

I've got to do five things, cos I've got the five rings.

I'm sort of stuffed there, really, but I can't leave a couple empty,

cos they think "Why's that empty?"

With three coloured jellies, poached lobster, chilli crab,

ceviche scallops and a mackerel tartare

among the elements of his dish,

Stephen was pushed for time on Tuesday,

and he's struggling again today.

Finding this one a bit of a push, Stephen?

Mate, this is my Achilles heel when it comes to timing.

You've got a lot going on, haven't you?

Just never appreciate how long it takes

to put all this on a plate, to be honest.

I thought I had loads of time, but...

With time against him, Stephen gets his collection

of cold classics to the pass, but is it what the judges are looking for?

Let's hope they don't feel a little bit annoyed

that it was so late.

I feel that the way that I've interpreted the brief

and embraced the Olympic spirit,

that is a very strongly linked dish.

It was a little bit late up to the pass,

but the tweaks that I was making, I was very happy with.

Wowser! It's the Olympic rings!

I think someone's worked very, very hard at this!

-But that is lovely and colourful and...

-Clever.

I think the crab is very nice, I think the lobster is lovely.

I think the potato and the scallop is nice.

The only one not working is the salmon.

A lot of bitterness coming off the jelly makes it too tart.

I think that he could have put a sort of mustardy sauce

with the smoked fish or something

that made each one a little bit different.

The one that works best for me is the lobster with the oyster

and the caviar, because the caviar acts as a seasoning.

I don't think this dish breaks any new ground at all. The idea's nice.

It is not a world class, gold medal winner for me.

-But I think we've got a real potential winner here.

-Absolutely.

The innovation lies in the visual appeal.

That's where the true originality... And it stops there.

Just needs to go...ur-rh...further.

So, Stephen's fish has room for improvement.

Can James outstrip him

with his lobster with Iberico ham, aubergine caviar and broccoli?

So, Angela judged these dishes.

You were a seven and I was a six.

Does that give you a bit of confidence?

I love my dish. Hopefully, it'll keep me that little point ahead.

His unusual combination of orange-spiced aubergine and broccoli

impressed veteran Angela Hartnett.

But the dish stands or falls by the last minute cooking of the lobster.

There's nothing to hide behind. The lobster's got to be perfect,

cos if it isn't then I might as well not bother.

It's the main element of the dish. If it's not right,

it's going to let the whole dish down.

As James warms the lobster in a spiced butter,

the final prep demands every ounce of his attention.

Yeah.

Oh, thank you.

I nearly forgot my foam.

James almost forgot his broccoli foam, so I think nerves are there.

He's trying to keep them down. It's a big task, what we're doing today.

It's a really big... We both want this so much.

Is James' lobster with a twist

a suitable showstopper for the Olympic feast?

It's a good looking dish.

I've always wanted to eat food from a plate shaped like a bedpan.

Well, this is a very generous, beautifully cooked lump of lobster.

I'm not sure the aubergine does anything for it.

I think the aubergine works extremely well with it. I think it's fabulous.

Would you like to explain to me what the natural relationship

between florets of broccoli and aubergine is?

You're saying you can't put aubergine and broccoli together?

Yes. Not in this case, anyway.

-Oh, I don't agree.

-Don't be ridiculous.

It's called innovation, when you put new ingredients together.

Just adding something with knobs on does not make it innovation.

It makes something with knobs on, or in this case broccoli on.

I'm very sad, Matthew,

that you don't appreciate the skill involved from the chef on this dish.

The lobster's perfectly cooked.

Well, I think the claws are perfectly cooked,

but the body that I've got, frankly,

reminds me of a bit of marine-flavoured chewing gum.

-It's perfect!

-The day that mud wrestling becomes an Olympic sport,

this dish can go through.

So, a thumbs down from Matthew for James' fish.

At half time, the chefs can only guess what the judges are thinking.

You can never read it.

When you think you've actually done something really well,

they end up pulling you apart over it,

so I'm hoping that they're looking for ultimate gastronomic delight

and sway in my favour.

The judges like quite modernist food, as James' is, you know,

with frozen onion balls and a bit of foam here and some purees.

He's in a strong position, but if they like some sound, classic,

fantastic cooking with big flavours, then it'll swing my way.

James is first to gear up for the main event, with his rare breed

Mangalitza pork with liquorice, carrots and leeks,

which scored him just seven in the heats.

You were a bit disappointed with your score for the main course.

Yeah, I was a little bit.

Didn't have an awful lot of negative to say about it

bar I didn't push myself.

James is serving his rare breed meat with liquorice.

Could this radical flavour choice be a step too far?

I've gone out on a limb here, cos A, I don't like liquorice very much

and B, I'm not the biggest fan of pork.

-Wouldn't be a dish you'd order off your own menu?

-I'd order it

cos I try to test myself.

But d'you think this is the right time to be testing the judges?

I don't really care.

If it's good enough for me, hopefully it's good enough for them.

James is cooking three different cuts of pork

with three different purees,

but is it a dish that takes gastronomy to new heights?

I think the judges will be quite impressed.

It's a good dish, it eats really well and it's a complete dish.

And yeah, I'm hoping that they'll be blown away by it.

-I love the look of this.

-It's very neat and tidy.

Actually, that is just divine.

That fat.

Oh, that is good.

This is a very high quality pork.

Pork is from the Mangalitza woolly pig

that produces high quality fat.

-Well done.

-I think it's wrong to leave

so much fat unrendered on a dish for this type of occasion.

In a balanced meal with four courses,

that amount of fat is going to wipe you out.

Oliver Peyton the puritan.

It's not a puritan, it's about balance, darling.

It's all about balance.

-There's a very caramel-like, treacly flavour.

-Liquorice?

Matthew, you're right, as always. It's liquorice.

It's an unusual ingredient to pair with pork, and actually,

I think it works very well.

I don't think it's enough to tilt the dish

into what I would consider a great contender.

If you stop and break it down, then I think, you know,

the daring and the originality of it

and the creativity of it becomes evident.

Sadly, I think this is probably not going to be innovative enough,

but I personally would be very happy to eat it at the banquet.

James has found a firm fan in Matthew.

Can Stephen win the others over?

His ambitious Bunny Pentathlon,

featuring five different preparations of rabbit,

was the top-scoring dish of the week.

Especially after getting a 9 from Angela,

it does give me a bit of confidence.

I just think about the time you scored me a 9 out of 10,

and then I got absolutely ripped to pieces over it, so...

Hello.

The thing is, it's different now.

This is for the judges.

It's not Angela any more.

It's all about what they feel and whether it ticks the right box.

I know he hit the brief pretty well in one respect,

but was it a gastronomic feat? Who knows?

-How are you going, Stephen? All right?

-OK, yeah.

With a rabbit jelly, a burger,

a slow-cooked loin, faggots

and a pressed rabbit croquette all to get perfect,

it's an Olympian task fraught with pitfalls.

Oh, hang on. Two seconds.

In the rush, Stephen's forgotten his rabbit belly garnish.

I looked at that then and thought,

"Something missing."

-Blimey.

-Want to borrow my...?

He's pulled it off, but does Stephen's quirky take on the brief

deliver a once-in-a-lifetime gastronomic experience?

Already, I'm happier. You know?

I'm in a velodrome here or something, right?

10, 11, 12...

There are at least 12 separate elements on this dish.

Plating this up for 100 people would be an absolute nightmare.

-Some amazing flavours going on here.

-Very different.

Take them in isolation.

That's a lovely little rabbit in jelly. That is a wonderful faggot.

But together, it's a massive,

massive, munching mouthful.

Personally, I've never had anything like this combination before,

and I love the journey of flavours through the palate.

He obviously means it to be a sort of pentathlon. Round you go.

At the end of it, you say, "Right, I've done rabbit,"

but you haven't had one delicious dish.

Oh, stop it. That's strong.

I love the burger. I think the burger's fabulous.

-The problem is, you're having too much of a good thing here.

-Yes!

You're absolutely right.

There are too many good things on the plate for you.

What is the primary quality of a pentathlete?

Endurance.

That's what it's really about.

And that's what this dish asks you to do - you've got to endure it.

Yet again, the judges can't agree.

Could the dessert be James' chance to land a winning blow?

His theatrical deconstructed lemon and raspberry cheesecake

won an impressive 8 from Angela Hartnett,

even though his Olympic torch-style chocolate cone

was criticised for being too thick.

And the thickness...?

-Yeah, it's a lot thinner.

-Yeah?

-Yeah, a lot thinner.

It's the dramatic presentation wreathed in scented smoke

that James really wants to wow the judges.

Can you pull those slates out of there, please?

When it comes to the judges' opinion,

possibly one or maybe even two will see it for

a lot of different components all sitting on a wooden box

with some dry ice underneath.

CRACKING

What was that?

Just as he's racing to plate up,

the cold dry ice has split one of James' tea boxes.

That box has made me panic a bit now.

And things are about to get even worse.

-James, this has fallen.

-Oh.

-Oh, dear.

James' new thinner cones won't stand up on his dish.

HE EXHALES

Just take them off, James, take them off.

Can you lay it down? Lay it down on the side?

I can, yeah. I'm just going to...

With Stephen's help, he's managed to rescue the situation.

What a pain in the backside.

Be very careful, because they're supposed to be stood up.

Ah, well.

Could it cost him a place in the final?

-BLEEP.

-Why did that have to happen?

-BLEEP.

'I'm a perfectionist, and I like things to be the way I see them,'

and the judges don't know, but I know.

Oooh! I like a bit of drama.

-This is good.

-It's a bit of theatre.

This is actually perfumed dry ice.

It is, isn't it?

I've had lots of dry ice extravaganzas,

but never smelling of raspberries.

By and large, I don't agree with cream cheese in puddings.

-Nor do I.

-But I have to say, I think this is very, very beautiful.

I like the meringue, I like the freeze-dried raspberries.

It's very good chocolate, too.

The basis of it is a classic combination, but in fact,

it's been very, very nicely and creatively re-thought through.

I do think the chef here has spent a lot of time

thinking about the dry ice.

Puddings are the place where you can actually go a bit crazy,

I think he's missed an opportunity here.

-Very well behaved.

-Do you know what? I quite like that,

because it's small. Small and perfectly formed.

This is not a landmark pudding,

but I can see a whole lot of Olympians polishing that off

and leaving the end of the dinner looking pretty damn chirpy.

So, despite the drama, James' dessert has impressed the judges.

Now for Stephen's classic lemon meringue pie,

chocolate mousse and strawberry trifle,

which scored an unexceptional 7 yesterday.

'Stephen's dessert...'

It's good, but is it great?

Who hasn't had the three elements of what he's done before?

I've certainly had a better trifle.

And my lemon tart is certainly as good,

if not better than what he can produce.

A "guess the gold" game is Stephen's twist on the brief,

with each dessert decorated with metallic leaf, then hidden under a cloche.

This stuff is unbelievable.

If I manage to come back for the banquet, maybe a little way of

putting the flame on top of my little cone to use a bit of gold.

If I've got anything to do with it, you won't be coming back.

If you've got anything to do with it, I won't be coming back.

Fighting talk from Stephen,

but is his gold, silver and bronze dessert a podium winner?

They're all champions to me, those judges.

-Cheers.

-See, it's all done now.

-Thank God for that.

Do you think this is a game or an intelligence test?

Ah! There is a pudding.

Very pretty. Lemon meringue pie.

OK, let's see what this one is.

-Oh, it's chocolate mousse with a bit of gold leaf.

-Mmm.

Actually, I've realised - bronze, silver and gold.

Oh! Very clever.

It's really good.

That is a tip-top piece of lemon curd.

Just the right sharpness, lemony business.

And a really good buttery biscuit base.

The chocolate's what's knocking me out.

It's absolutely delicious.

I think the trifle's the weak spot, actually,

but with a little bit more development work here,

it could be a super-cool pudding.

This is delicious.

-Is it radical?

-I don't care.

It's lovely. It's witty,

it has the Olympic thing - bronze, gold, silver.

And it's skilful, you know? I think it's good. It's innovative.

-Tell me what the innovation is.

-The game.

The game is the first person to get to gold.

-I think that's fun.

-That's not really... I mean...

I would never invite you to my party.

I would never let you play this game with me.

It's un-pompous and simply delicious,

and, in a way, uncomplicated.

But it's not from the brief, Prue!

With all four courses cooked and tasted, the chefs can do no more.

This is the worst part of the day for me. I hate this sort of...

-just the waiting.

-I know what you're saying.

It's... And that last course that goes out,

you've just put every inch of effort into it.

You and I have both been in this position before.

Both tasted success, and both tasted the bitterness of defeat.

Yeah. I think it's going to be a real tough one to call.

-It's been tough all week.

-Yeah.

The score's just... written on the wall.

It's time to reveal which dishes belong to which menu.

Stephen has been inspired by the Olympic spirit,

with ambitious but classic sporting-themed dishes,

while James has embraced cutting edge techniques

to try and create innovative combinations

of flavours and textures.

But the judges won't learn whose menu is whose

until they've chosen a winner.

It's always a relief to see how the menus stack up, which dishes go with which.

They both work on different principles,

but they both add up to really remarkable pieces of menu-making.

It's a tough call.

But we do have to come to a decision.

-Prue, have you come to a decision?

-Yeah, I have, definitely.

-Oliver?

Yes, Matthew.

Good. Well, I have too.

So I think we should call in the chefs.

Now, Stephen and James must brave the judges' den once again.

James and Stephen, welcome to the judges' chamber.

Tell me, has coming back made it any easier?

BOTH: No!

-Not at all.

-Not in the slightest.

Two extraordinarily accomplished chefs,

two mature cooking styles.

I'm sure you, as well as we do, want to know

who is going forward to represent Wales

at the final of the Great British Menu.

-Prue, have you chosen which one you prefer?

-I have, and it's menu A.

-Oliver, have you chosen?

-It's also menu A, Matthew.

Well, menu A wins, but it doesn't have a clean sweep,

because I've voted for menu B.

But I don't know who cooked menu A,

so, Prue, if you'd like to pass over the envelope, we will find out.

So, the chef going through to represent Wales

in the final of the Great British Menu will be...

Stephen Terry.

Well done, mate.

Well done, Stephen.

Stephen, you looked a bit shocked.

Well, up against a tough competitor, you know?

I lost 2-1 to him the last time I was here.

I think you took the theme to heart, so I like that.

The fish medley - I can see it at final banquet.

I think it needs work to give each individual item

more characteristic, but I love the idea.

I loved the Bunny Pentathlon, and of course,

the little podium of silver, bronze and gold puddings.

I loved the fun of it,

but I did also think the cooking was absolutely beautiful.

James. You must be seriously disappointed.

Yeah, I am a little bit disappointed.

It's been a tough week and I've certainly given it my all.

It's been tough cooking against him again.

If I may say so, James, I think your cooking has evolved enormously

from the first time that you appeared on the Great British Menu.

Stephen, we look forward to seeing you

in the final of the Great British Menu.

James, personally, I'm sorry I shall not see you.

-Thank you both very, very much indeed.

-Cheers.

THEY CHEER

ALL: Cheers.

-For Wales.

-Yeah, definitely.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

'Well, I am gutted.'

A lot of effort's gone into this,

and, you know, good luck to Stephen.

I think Wales deserves to be at the banquet.

-Thank you.

-'I just wish it was me.'

'To be in that judges' chamber waiting,

'and they pause, there's that pause,'

and a big wave of emotion came over me when I heard my name called.

You know, it's all about kids.

Just happy for them.

Next week, three of the south-west's highly acclaimed chefs

will be put through their paces.

Reigning champion Paul Ainsworth...

I'm a past champion and I want to be there again more than ever.

..and old rival Nathan Outlaw...

I've got mushroom and sausage. You can't go wrong.

..take on first-timer, but competition pro, Simon Hulstone.

-Is there any competition you haven't won?

-No, I've done a lot.

And Simon is hoping to make a huge first impression,

if his rivals will let him.

-You OK, Simon?

-Yeah, I've just misplaced my cutters, mate.

Initiation test for the new boy, eh, Nath?

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd