South West Fish Great British Menu

Three of the South West's superior chefs are vying

to take pride of place at a prestigious Olympic banquet.

Yesterday's starters saw returning contender Nathan steal the lead with his simple but standout dish...

Mushroom and sausage, you can't go wrong.

..leaving returning champion Paul and competition pro Simon chasing to catch up.

-Blimey! Ever seen anything like that before?

-Never!

Tonight, it's the fish course

and there's good reason for seafood chef Nathan to keep the top spot.

-As the king of fish, how are you feeling?

-Bit under pressure.

I am a seafood chef. This should be my course.

But Paul's hoping his big reveal will steal the thunder.

I'm just going to serve slightly different, as a bit of a surprise.

-That's as much as I want to tell you!

-Secret Squirrel!

To reflect the Olympian spirit and drive for excellence,

this year's challenge is to create dishes of a culinary equivalent.

It's one of the biggest things going to happen in my generation.

I've got an opportunity to be part of it.

Former champion Tom Kerridge has even more reason to expect perfection today.

Best fish in the country comes from the South West.

These guys, they're competing from that region.

I am expecting exceptional gold medal stuff from all three of them today.

After yesterday's results, the pressure's on, and Nathan's spotted another hurdle.

We've got one thing against us already.

Shellfish, I don't think Tom can eat any shellfish. He's allergic to it.

-You've got shellfish.

-All over it!

-No shellfish.

We'll all mark ourselves then - ten out of ten, ten out of ten!

You're on your own, Paul.

I've got a shellfish allergy, so I've made a phone call

and Jason Atherton's coming in to help me.

I'm pretty sure it'll put the wind up a few of those contestants.

The chefs have no idea what's in store.

-So, chaps. You weren't expecting to see me today.

-No!

I'm sure you all know that I have a shellfish allergy.

Jason's here to taste anything, if you're doing things with shellfish.

I'll still be doing the scoring. I just need a guide.

-Well, boys, looking forward to tasting it. Good luck.

-Thank you.

Well, that's intense!

First up is Nathan Outlaw. He's failed to reach the banquet twice before,

but has two Michelin stars, and his no-nonsense cooking style earned him a place

at the top of the scoreboard yesterday.

Eight out of ten gives me a head start over the others,

but this competition is fierce.

It's one point in it.

Good luck, boys.

Hello there, Mr Outlaw. What's the name of your dish, Nathan?

Mackerel with cured mackerel roll, horseradish and oyster sauce.

Nice mackerel.

The top loin, we're going to roast off, curing the belly side.

With the cured mackerel, I'm going to make a mackerel roll.

-With the oysters, we're going to make a sauce.

-Horseradish and mackerel. Very traditional.

-What's innovative about it?

-Clean flavours, work well together.

It's the sort of thing that would fit in at an Olympic banquet.

-I can do this for 100 people.

-Nervous about anything?

I could overcook the fish, which I don't want to do, especially for you two.

The dish is very simple to the eye. So everything's got to be tip top.

Nathan's striving to stay bold but simple, with mackerel fillet,

cured mackerel belly roll

served with oyster, horseradish and cucumber sauce.

It doesn't sound as if it's groundbreaking.

It doesn't sound like it pushes boundaries. He's looking for simplicity.

If he gets it wrong, there's nowhere to hide.

In joint second place,

it's the South West's star on last year's banquet, Paul Ainsworth.

His showman serving style has so far earned him a seven,

but today, he's pulling out all the stops.

It doesn't faze me that Nathan's a seafood specialist.

I've put so much work into this course. When you see it in all its glory, I've thought it through.

If I get this dish right, I've got a good chance of beating him.

-What's the name of your dish?

-Monkfish, Two Showings.

-Two Showings?

-Yes. I'm just going to use all of the monkfish.

I'm doing the loin, the livers...

-Wow! Monkfish liver.

-..and the cheeks.

-That's quite an unusual ingredient.

-And the last piece being the liver,

I'm going to serve slightly different, as a bit of a surprise.

That's as much as I want to tell you.

The whole dish is going to have an Asian theme.

The cheeks are in a South Indian batter. The loin, I'm going to ceviche, limes and pickled ginger.

-And smoked duck.

-Smoked duck?

-Yeah.

-Lots of things going on.

Lots of spicing. What's the riskiest element to this dish? What are you most worried about?

I want to make sure I get that balance spot on when you're using spices.

-Can it get to an Olympic banquet?

-I think so.

-Gold medal standard?

-Up there, pushing boundaries?

-Definitely.

The way I present it, it's very different.

Paul's hoping for a podium finish with his celebration

of monkfish, using loin, liver and cheek in a spiced batter,

ceviche and pate, all served with a surprise.

There's a lot going on there.

He says this could be his biggest downfall, the balance of flavours, and I agree.

Next to the kitchen, it's professional competition winner Simon Hulstone.

New to Great British Menu, he failed to take gold yesterday.

I'm one point behind Nathan.

I reckon I can claw that back and take it from him.

-What have we got here?

-The dish I'm doing, it's based around the swimming pool.

It's poached lemon sole wrapped in a scallop mousseline,

and colour some of that with squid ink so I get white and black mousse,

-and wrap the fish.

-That's where you think you're pushing the boundaries?

Yeah, it's very innovative.

Just adds a bit of showmanship to the dish.

My sauce is a verjus, golden sultana and spring onion.

-Bought in lobster jus?

-Yeah. Works a treat.

OK.

Simon's jumping off the high board with a swimming pool themed dish

of lemon sole in a scallop and squid wrap, lobster royale

and a verjus, sultana and spring onion sauce.

My initial worry is there's going to be too much style over substance.

Too many different ideas, all coming together on one plate.

-What do you think, Mr Atherton?

-This is really exciting, to see what three of the South West's best chefs

can produce with the best produce we have. One of you boys don't get a fish course at the banquet,

it'll be an absolute crime.

All three chefs dive straight into their inspiring dishes.

With two tough veterans to please, the stakes are higher than ever.

-How are you feeling after that?

-No pressure from Jason,

saying he expects the best fish dish from us lot!

It's great to be able to cook for two of the best chefs in the country.

Really good.

Paul's guarded surprise has upped the ante even more.

-I don't know what he's doing over there.

-Secret Squirrel!

For the time being, Paul is keeping everyone guessing, including Tom Kerridge.

I am really looking forward to seeing how Paul serves this.

The main point is taste. It's got to taste good.

Simon's also hoping his dish will make a big impression.

He's rolled lemon sole with protein glue,

which he'll poach before coating in spotted mousse.

Next is his lobster royale, which uses gelling agents and gum to form a custard,

contemporary techniques his traditional rivals are keen to question.

What's groundbreaking about your fish dish, Simon? Obviously that mental mousse?

I've got the eggless royale.

I've used two different styles, with the guar gum, as well.

-What was that?

-Guar gum.

-Guar gum? It's not Wrigley's!

The unusual lobster custard has also caught Tom's attention.

It's his opinion that counts.

What have we got in here?

That's my lobster royales, little custards.

It is pure lobster stock and cream.

-So this is the stock that you used from the jar?

-Yeah.

I can put them through the oven. They shouldn't melt down, but in your mouth they'll break down.

-You won't know that cos you can't try it.

-No.

If I was Jason, tasting this, I would expect something like this

to be made from stock you've made yourself.

This has come from a pre-packed product. I'm not sure Jason's going to be up with that.

Across the kitchen, fish fanatic Nathan is relying on

his use of natural flavours to make his dishes shine.

He's serving mackerel fillet with a signature sauce from his restaurant.

The other chefs want to know what makes it so special.

The sauce, which is oyster, mayonnaise based sauce with cucumber stock.

It's something you don't see everywhere. This is the base of the sauce.

And then that is the cucumber stock, which is going to let that down with.

-Oh, yeah. Very nice.

-Different.

-Fresh.

'He's doing an oyster and cucumber mayonnaise, almost as a warm sauce though.'

The oysters could almost cook and coagulate

and so could the mayonnaise that's in there.

I don't think the dish intimidates me. I was expecting a very good dish.

I hope mine stands up to it, but Nathan is Captain Haddock.

Nathan might be known as the fish king,

but reigning champion Paul won't let go of his title easily.

He's convinced his showcase of monkfish is the one to beat.

He's used loin to make a ceviche, with smoked duck and egg yolk.

But Tom's eye is on his more unusual cut.

They're the cheeks. Seasoned with rock salt and curry powder.

I'm going to drop them in the bath and into the batter, which is all these flavours here.

Garam masala, the curry leaves,

the Kashmiri chilli, the cumin, the coriander, fennel.

Paul Ainsworth has got eight ingredients going into his batter.

Will that overpower the fish? We don't know. Will it overpower the dish? Maybe.

To elevate Paul's monkfish into a banquet worthy dish,

he's taking his unique presentation style to another level.

Hello, Rod.

To help lead him to victory, Paul's meeting Olympic Stadium architect

Rod Sheard for some gold-medal design advice.

We've been set a task to create a four-course menu that is gastronomically groundbreaking,

but at the same time embraces the Olympic spirit.

I took this idea for to the Coliseum.

The truth is that almost all modern stadiums owe their heritage

to the Coliseum, because it really got so much right.

Like the Coliseum, where it had the two floors, I'm going to create a dish on top.

I was thinking of having holes.

-So when they break into that yolk, that then goes onto the second layer.

-OK.

You lift off the top section

-and then you're just left with the bottom section of the coliseum.

-Yep.

And then on the bottom section of that coliseum,

that's where there will be the last piece of monkfish.

Look, I think that's a great idea, Paul,

and I think you're really onto something and best of luck with it.

Thank you very much.

To turn Paul's design dreams into reality,

he's enlisted the help of Rainford Models, the specialist model makers

who were challenged to make Paul's banquet-winning dessert cart last year and now a coliseum.

-Good to see you.

-Yeah, good to see you.

-OK, so this is what we've come up with.

-Ah, yes.

Absolutely, let me shake your... Absolutely amazing.

It almost feels like people are sort of sat in there

and looking at this kind of feast that I'm going to create.

I think I've got two great components,

a really groundbreaking dish,

but I think a real, real cool way to serve it.

Right now, as long as I can go to the Great British Menu kitchens

and not let nerves get the better of me or make any stupid mistakes,

then I really do honestly believe that this is a gold medal dish.

In the kitchen, Paul's keeping his serving coliseum under wraps.

But conscious of his banquet success, the other chefs are desperate to find out more.

We haven't done it, so how it's going to go on the day...

You must think that when you're doing dishes. What advice

would you give us if we gave one of our dishes to the banquet?

It becomes seriously real then.

If you muck it up now, that's all part of the competition, isn't it?

But you don't want to muck it up when it's actually for the people

that you've been competing so long to get the dishes to the banquet for.

It's amazing. And I'd love to do it again.

If those boys want to take my crown,

then they're going to have to really tussle me for it

cos I'm not going to let it go easy.

Paul is the title holder of the South West Great British Menu,

so he doesn't want to let it go lightly.

And, you know, it's up to us to try and tap it away from him.

Simon's going all out to take the crown,

with the highly technical mousse wrap for his lemon sole.

It's made from pressed layers of scallop mousse,

some dyed with squid ink to form spots.

And professional fish chef Nathan can't resist a look.

-It should just peel off.

-Blimey, look at that.

I've never seen anything like that before. That's scallops in there?

-This is just scallops and cream.

-Blimey.

-Have you ever seen anything like that before?

-Never.

Basically, it's like making a Genoise sponge for pastry.

-But I'm using fish instead.

-Dalmatians. Cruella de Vil.

-Could you make a coat or something with it?

-No, no, it's pure scallops.

Never in my life have I seen...have I seen a mousse

that looks like a Dalmatian dog, it's like, it's crazy.

I'm trying to produce something that's innovative,

that's groundbreaking, I'm pushing limits,

and things that people haven't seen before,

and for them to joke about it is cos they haven't seen it before. So, you know, it's obviously working.

Nathan moves onto the fish roll he's making for his dish.

He's made a souffle base from flour and eggs

which he's cooked flat and is going to fill with cured mackerel belly and pate.

Something he's hoping Tom won't have seen before.

-What have we got here?

-Got a savoury base, for my cured mackerel roll.

And what I've made here,

-I've cured my mackerel for two hours in a cucumber cure.

-What's the savoury base made from?

The savoury base is made from almost like a cold souffle base.

-So are you going to do like a roulade of it?

-Yeah.

Like a jam roly-poly?

-Just with fish, fish roly-poly.

-Fish roly-poly, yeah.

-Crack on.

'Nathan's cured his mackerel belly,'

which is the fattier part of the fish,

which has got lots of moisture coming through it, and it tastes absolutely fantastic.

And then he's wrapping it in kind of like a pancake kind of thing.

The issue with that is, could that take away the moisture from the fish

that he's already created?

That's something that I'll be looking out for.

Paul's moved onto the finale of his celebration of monkfish,

poached liver, which he'll serve on toast with a drizzle of egg yolk.

He's taking a risk on a rarely-used cut, which he's hoping will pay off.

Liver's not commonly used. It's quite an acquired taste, but I think

that's kind of great at a banquet.

-So you got a lot going on in the last minute?

-Yeah.

And that's my little monk liver.

It's nice though, if you treat it just like foie gras.

It's an unusual thing. If you're eating it on toast, I think it works.

I'm a bit wary of the monkfish liver.

It's quite a strong, very, very fishy flavour.

How it tastes will have to wait,

as yesterday's top scorer Nathan is first to plate up.

To keep his mackerel fillets fresh,

he's waited until the last minute to cook.

And with a dish so simple, timing is going to be critical.

'It's very, very, very naked, very bare on the plate,'

so it's all got to be tip-top and, you know, cooked to perfection.

Fish cooks very fast.

Working quickly, he plates a brown slice of his mackerel roll

and surrounds with his signature sauce of oyster mayonnaise, cucumber and horseradish.

Then garnishes with cucumber and lemon oil and dill,

before plating his mackerel fillet.

Will the professional seafood chef have the perfect finish

he was aiming for?

-Happy?

-Yeah, that's how I would serve it in my restaurant.

-Why do anything else?

-Shall we go?

-Yeah.

-Come on, then.

Will Nathan's statement dish of mackerel fillet

and belly pack enough punch to keep him in poll position?

Two simple ingredients - mackerel, horseradish.

-Have you elevated it to the levels that you want it to be at?

-That dish, for me,

is the dish that I'd be proud to serve at a banquet.

I like that.

You can taste the oyster in there,

but the cucumbers just subtlely in there, as well.

It's delicious. Really is delicious.

Do you feel that you've got enough oyster flavour in that?

Probably could do with a little bit more oyster in it,

-if I was to be honest with you.

-The piece of mackerel is very delicate.

Have you cooked it perfectly, have you got it where you want it to be?

I'm pretty happy with how that's gone and I'll be quite happy for the judges to taste it on Friday.

This roulade's different, isn't it? With the belly through it.

I'm not 100% sure of the texture, it's like a sponge, isn't it?

-Or an omelette of some sort.

-It's definitely original.

-It's not what I was expecting.

-It's quite cakey, almost an eggy sponge.

Is it innovative enough? Is it pushing you hard enough?

It's more about sourcing great ingredients and making sure you're doing the best with them.

-That, for me, is groundbreaking.

-Do you think it's a knockout dish?

Hopefully Tom and Jason are going to be looking for something

a little bit more adventurous.

I'm chuffed. I couldn't have done any more.

They sat on the fence and they're not going to say much,

cos obviously they're keeping it close to their chest.

Next up and prepared as ever,

competition pro Simon is ready to serve his elaborate Olympic swimming pool dish.

He starts with his specially commissioned blue wave plates

and adds his lobster royale,

followed by his verjus, spring onion and sultana sauce.

He then slices his lemon sole

wrapped in scallop and squid mousse and serves.

My swimming pool.

So we've got the wave, we got lemon sole,

poached squid wrap, verjus, spring onion, golden sultana butter,

lobster mousse.

I'm only gutted that I can't taste most of it.

I leave that in your hands, Mr Atherton.

Will Simon's swimming pool-themed dish cause a splash?

The way it's presented is stunning.

-Could you do this at a banquet for 100?

-Without a doubt, no problem.

What do you feel that mousse adds to that dish?

The dish was a swimming pool. Splash, bubbles. That was the fish.

I see.

I've never seen anything like that before.

-No. Groundbreaking in technique, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Little lobster royale, are you happy with the texture of that?

It's a set stock and cream, but it melts in your mouth.

It's got that sort of creme caramel texture.

This is lobster, isn't it?

He's probably bought that as stock though and just poured that in.

I think you can tell that, as well.

No, that's not for me.

If you're going to write on the menu that you're serving lobster,

I think you'd be really disappointed if...

-You'd be asking where the lobster was, wouldn't you?

-I think you would, yeah.

-Spring onions in the sauce.

-I like that.

-I think it just brings it a real pungency out there.

-Not overpowering?

It's on the borderline of overpowering,

but what does lemon sole really taste like?

Let's try the fish.

So it's a scallop mousse with squid ink round it.

Nah. That's not for me, either.

It's not... For me, fish is

you know, obviously simple, and that's one step too many, I think.

Spring onion and cucumber and the verjus...

I think they're powerful components for lemon sole.

The squid mousse round the sole and the way he's poached it...

-Do they deliver the flavour, that prime ingredient? I don't think it quite does.

-No. No.

Shame, because that sauce is amazing. Really tasty.

I'm going to ask him for the recipe, actually.

Do you think this dish gives you the confidence to go in there and say,

"This is going to the banquet, and I am your chef for the fish course"?

I think I could say, quite honestly, yes.

Yeah, so... I don't think it went to plan, really.

I'm not sure if Jason and Tom actually warmed to that dish.

I tried to go all out and do something a bit different,

and I'm not sure if it worked.

Last up is showman Paul, and for the other chefs,

the first reveal of his two-tiered coliseum dish.

-Do you want to see my...

-Let's see your surprise.

No way.

-Yeah.

-Look at that.

-Coliseum.

-That's amazing. Blimey.

Well, good luck with it.

To be hidden on the bottom layer, he plates wafer-thin toast

and the rarely-used monkfish liver. He then covers with a second level of monkfish ceviche,

and delicately places a poached egg yolk in the centre,

which needs pinpoint positioning for the dish to work.

Lastly, his deep-fried monkfish cheek in a mixed spiced batter,

served with an onion garnish.

OK, that's my Monkfish, Two Showings.

-Were you pleased?

-Yeah, I'm really happy. This is the surprise.

When you eat the dish, there's holes underneath there,

and the egg yolk's dressing a piece of toast underneath,

and that's the final showing of the monkfish

which is just a piece of liver, which I've treated just like foie gras on toast.

I've put everything I possibly can into that. Hope you enjoy it.

-Shall we go taste it?

-Yeah. Thank you. Cheers, lads.

Will Paul's medley of monkfish in a two-tiered coliseum take gold?

-That's amazing, isn't it?

-Beautiful.

-It's a work of art, isn't it?

It really is really, really nice.

I'm just gutted I didn't think of something like that.

Yep.

So the monkfish ceviche with the smoked duck through it, you're happy with that?

100%. I love the lime. The inspiration was from a beef tartar.

I think that egg yolk works well, especially with the crispy batter.

Are you happy with the balance of the dish?

Batters can be pretty tasteless, it's just a texture,

but, for me, that is a flavour, not a texture.

What I do like about this is that he's taken monkfish,

-a bland fish, and made it tasty by adding the spices to it.

-Yeah.

I do like the addition of the smoked duck. It's very inventive.

Shall we lift the lid on the coliseum?

See if it's worked...

-And it has.

-Look at that.

-Pleased with that?

-Yeah, I'm really pleased.

Monkfish liver, you know, it's an acquired sort of taste.

I think it's delicious.

Are you happy with the balance of flavours? Not too powerful?

You know that it's monkfish.

I think the fishiness is character.

Quite bitter overtones to it, hasn't it? So it's very fishy, very strong.

It's not something I'd choose. I wouldn't order it on a menu. Definitely not.

There's tartar of fish, raw dish, monkfish livers.

-Do you think it's going to appeal to everybody there?

-Um... Yeah,

because I think if you just eat that and just enjoy it

and then I think that people would

realise, "Oh, I didn't know I liked that."

You've got showmanship, there's theatre to it.

When you do stuff like that, you've got to back it up with flavour

-and I think he has done.

-I think it's an excellent dish. The whole concept is very clever.

Yeah, that was a tough one.

Um, you know, a great course.

I loved it, and I think it's tough

because emotionally I feel so happy and strongly about that dish,

but obviously Jason and Tom aren't going to give anything away

or let me know what they really think of it.

Tasting's over, the chefs can hang up their aprons,

leaving Tom to take seafood notes from his fellow veteran

before he can decide his scores.

The scallop and the squid wrap around the fish,

did it enhance the fish, did it help it?

It's more of a presentation thing. It had no flavour whatsoever.

I just think that if he holds back on the presentation a little bit

and is a little bit more, you know, just calmer with it,

I think it'll be a superb dish.

You don't know what the judges are thinking.

They might hate Paul and Nathan's dish, you know,

and I'm just knocking myself down for no reason.

Tell me what you think about Nathan's.

It's not groundbreaking. Let's cut to the chase with that.

But the sauce, it looked creamy, it looked heavy, it was light,

it was fresh, it was zingy,

and I just think that is Nathan Outlaw in a bowl.

'My dish, I still think it's going to be highly scored'

and I still believe in what I do.

Thank you very much for your help today, Jason.

-Well, I hope my palate's helped.

-I'm sure it has.

Tom gave Nathan a top score of eight yesterday,

Simon and Paul both seven.

Close scores with all to play for.

-Pleased that one's over?

-Yeah.

OK. Let me just start off with Nathan.

OK, your mackerel dish, I thought it was a beautiful piece of cooking.

The natural fattiness of the belly and cured in that cucumber,

I thought, was fantastic, worked very, very well.

The mackerel roll itself, I thought it was going to be quite stodgy,

but it wasn't, it was really light, really fluffy.

I was really impressed with that.

However, could it have done with an element more? Could the oyster have come through more?

Could it have a poached oyster with it? One more thing?

Simon, your swimming pool.

I'll tell you what I really did love, I loved the sauce

with the grapes and the spring onions that I tasted. It was absolutely fantastic.

But I do think that maybe you pushed the dish too far.

The scallop and the squid wrap,

was there a reason for it, was there a point, or is it just for presentation?

Lastly, I'm really surprised you didn't make your own lobster stock.

Did you get lost in the visual of bubbles and the swimming pool

rather than looking for the taste and textures of the fish?

Paul.

Your Monkfish, Two Showings...

Visually, the dish, off the scale,

loved it the moment it came up to pass, I thought, "Wow."

I was worried about the clash of flavours but, like a trained athlete,

it seems like you've practised and practised and got that right.

I'll tell you what I really did love.

I loved the way that you used the whole fish. Nose-to-tail eating.

The monkfish liver itself was perhaps a little bitter.

OK, guys, the scores.

Nathan, for your mackerel dish...

..I'm going to give you...

-nine out of ten.

-Thank you.

Simon, for your swimming pool...

..I'm going to give you...

five out of ten.

Paul, for your Monkfish, Two Showings, I'm going to give you...

..eight out of ten.

-Well done, guys. Simon, it's not all over.

-No, no.

-Head up, chief.

Come back tomorrow, main courses.

-Well done, guys.

-Thank you.

After day two, Nathan hangs onto his lead with an overall score of 17.

Former champ Paul is keeping him on his toes with 15,

and Simon brings up the rear with 12.

I've got to claw some points back.

-I didn't think I'd be clawing back as many as I am.

-'I'm out in front.

'I didn't expect to be. Yeah, I knew my food was good,'

but I know these guys are good, as well. So, yeah, it's fantastic.

Get back tonight, get a good night's sleep, come in tomorrow,

charged, buzzing, just go for it.

Tomorrow, it's the main course,

and fish enthusiast Nathan goes off-piste

with an unusual combination.

-Duck and monkfish go well together?

-I think it works really well together.

Monkfish and duck. It's a big risk, I think, it's a big risk.

Did I just see the great Nathan Outlaw with a few shakes at the end, there?

Hey, if I'm not shaking in front of you four, I'm not human, am I?

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