South West Judging Great British Menu

So far, the battle for the South West has been packed full of drama.

Bronze, Silver, Gold.

I've never seen anything like this before.

Whoa!

No, it's not for me.

Yesterday, saw competitive newcomer

Simon Hurlstone take a bow.

-Huge commiserations.

-These are two good guys.

Tonight, the judges get personal.

-Beautiful...

-Hang on, this dish is beige!

-We're just arguing for the sake of arguing.

-No.

-Yes, you are.

And with last year's champion

Paul Ainsworth changing his dishes at the last minute,

anything could happen.

-It's a risk I think I'm willing to take.

-BLEEP

Some doubt's crept in.

South West finalists Nathan and Paul have given everything

they've got to get this far.

You up for this?

Well up for it, well up for it.

Reigning champion Paul Ainsworth just clinched the lead this week

with his playful presentation and quirky take on the brief.

Through the week we've been training hard,

now, we're about to start the race

and I just want to beat Nathan to the finish line.

But having won top scores for two of his classic dishes

with a twist, and only just behind on points,

Nathan Outlaw is braced for battle.

It's going to be tough today against Paul. He's a really good chef,

he knows what he's doing, he's been here before, he's been to the banquet. So, it's all to play for.

-I'm going to give you a run for your money.

-That's fighting talk, let's do it!

May the best man win.

Both chefs have been striving to create

boundary-pushing menus worthy of our sporting heroes.

Deciding who gets gold

and who goes home

are the most fastidious of judges,

Prue Leith, Matthew Fort and Oliver Peyton.

I think we've two chefs here

who both have a very personal vision of what food should be.

This is their chance to be part of something very important.

Something that'll never happen again in their lifetimes

and I want the chefs who are at this final banquet

to be demonstrating to the world the greatness of Britain.

But to get there, the winners have to be cooking

like they've never cooked before. I mean, like Olympians run,

sorry to use the cliche, but they have to go for gold

and get it.

After a gruelling week,

it's about to get tougher.

Both chefs have been here before

and know this is just the start of an even bigger battle.

Either one of us has got a big challenge on our hands

if we get to the final, that's for sure.

I bet there's some real big names going to be there, isn't there?

Everyone's going to be wanting to get their dish onto the final banquet.

The last time I did this, I could smell the banquet.

I got really close

but I didn't know if I'd get there with any of my dishes.

It's really important for me to get at least one of them there.

It's a tough day today,

Nathan's an extremely accomplished chef.

He's also going to be taking criticisms on board

that he was given by Tom and Jason

and those changes might be the finishing touches

that his dishes needed.

Nathan's first to face the judges

with his take on a hearty Olympic breakfast.

Hog's pudding, potato terrine and quails egg,

served with mushroom ketchup and deep-fried seaweed.

It was the top-scoring starter in the heats

and Paul's keen to know if it can get any better.

-You got a good score, didn't you?

-A good eight.

There's no need to change anything.

I'm very confident in it, actually. It's a nice dish.

Nathan's rustic hog's pudding went down well with veteran Tom,

as did his personalised touch of adding seaweed.

But it's an acquired taste,

which his rival chef is first to point out.

This was the only thing that I wasn't sure about,

the saltiness from it. That's what this competition is about. Groundbreaking ideas.

So, seafood with a take on the breakfast elements,

is certainly different, isn't it?

Have to see what the judges in there think.

-Definitely.

-I don't think they'll have tasted it before.

Nathan's sticking to his guns,

but is his spruced-up sausage, egg and chips

with potato terrine, mushroom ketchup and deep-fried quails egg

a fitting start for an Olympic feast?

Lovely. Thank you.

-Smells good.

-Smells really good.

It's a bit beige, isn't it? The idea of putting a sausage up there

as the first course of a top-quality banquet,

that in itself is a bold statement.

It may be quite dull to look at, but it's absolutely delicious.

Terrific on the palate.

This is a really beautifully thought-out dish.

I really love the flavours.

I like the contrasting flavours, the quails egg, the seaweed...

One could, in theory, say it's all a bit weird,

but the flavours all merge together well.

Is this the sort of dish

we can see kicking off the dinner at the final banquet?

I think it's a beautiful piece of thinking.

Utterly delicious. I think the composition is intelligent

and I think it's perfect. I just think it looks awful.

So, a full house for Nathan's flavours,

but a question mark over presentation.

Could it be Paul's chance to steal the lead?

He's also riffing on the breakfast theme,

serving pork belly with hash browns

and an innovative black pudding pain au chocolat.

Having been penalised in the heats for making his starter too filling,

he's making radical changes today.

Some doubt's crept in. To start a meal off at a banquet,

I've maybe gone a bit carb-heavy

with the rice, the beans and the pastry,

so I'm taking away the rice and the beans.

I'm still going to do a hash brown,

but I'm going to do a simple poached egg

wrapped in potato and deep-fried.

That surprises me, because the hash brown I really liked.

It might be a risk in that I might be shooting myself in the foot,

but it is a risk I think I'm willing to take.

You must have had a bit of a sleepless night then?

To make a change at the last minute? Quite radical for you.

Less is sometimes more, isn't it?

I must admit, I'm a little bit worried now

because Paul's taken the comments from Tom.

He's only one point behind me when he got judged by Tom

and it could leave it like it might be level-pegging.

Undeterred, Paul plates his pork belly

and pared-back hash brown

and uses a board to present his pain au pudding,

and cappuccino mug of chunky tomato sauce.

Will Paul's slimmed down Olympic breakfast sit well with the judges?

I'm very nervous, because normally I'm pretty well thought out in what I do.

You've got to take risks in this competition. I feel it's a real good risk to take.

It's another breakfast! How many breakfasts are we going to get this morning?

This is just wonderful!

This is a poached egg inside here, look.

It's an incredibly fine potato crust on the outside.

-It's pain au chocolat black pudding.

-I think the execution is amazing.

This is really skilful stuff.

The highpoint is the bacon.

The bacon is absolutely cured to perfection.

Nice level of fat, very strong flavour...

I think the tomato ketchup

is a bit too lumpy, a bit too much of an afterthought.

I don't think it's a gastronomic hit.

Oliver! That is really unkind!

This tastes delicious, it's skilfully done, it's witty and it's exquisite!

When I'm looking for a dinner,

which is supposed to go down in some of the greatest sporting heroes and heroines of this country,

I want them not to have breakfast.

I want to have something they've never eaten before!

Rave reviews as a breakfast,

but not as a sumptuous banquet starter.

So, Nathan is just out in front heading into the fish course

and as a two Michelin-starred seafood chef, this could be his chance to shine.

His mackerel fillet and mackerel belly roll,

served with a signature sauce of oyster, horseradish and cucumber,

scored a stunning nine in the week.

And conscious of the competition, Nathan's pushing to make it a ten.

-Make any changes?

-Did pretty well.

I got nine from Tom which I was chuffed about.

The only thing they picked up on was if there was enough oyster flavour

coming through from the sauce,

but I put more oysters in the mayonnaise.

So, hopefully, a bigger punch of oyster coming through.

Nathan's dish might sound simple

but his savoury roll filled with cured mackerel belly

relies on textbook execution.

I'm very proud of the ingredients I'm using, all from the South West.

It will be about marrying the flavours and getting them spot-on.

Does Nathan's celebration of local mackerel

have the wow factor the judges are looking for?

There you go. Thank you.

-Smells amazing! That's a cracker!

-Thank you.

It's a tiny piece of very succulent, fat, rich mackerel

then there's a creamy sauce so it's all quite rich,

but it tastes fresh.

I think this is a really nicely-judged dish.

I don't like it, I think it's a shocker.

There's nothing new about it,

it's just poncified fish.

I cannot make my mind up about this dish.

I think it's a beautiful and elegant presentation for a start.

The mackerel needs a much more powerful hit

in order to stand up to the sauce which is quite, quite strong.

I'm six of one and half a dozen of the other on this one.

This is not a world-class dish!

With the best will in the world, there's no personality.

-What's great about this? It's just pleasant!

-What's wrong with good behaviour?

-It's something you might learn from this dish, Oliver!

-I'm not looking for good behaviour.

I'm looking for rock 'n' roll. I'm looking for world-beating.

So, after mixed marks for Nathan's mackerel,

will this be Paul's chance to catch up?

His unique Coliseum-shaped two-tiered plate

showcases monkfish loin, cheek and liver.

But while veteran Tom loved the presentation,

he marked Paul down for his strong-tasting liver pate

and Nathan can only hope the judges will agree.

So, with your fish dish, are you making any big changes?

Monkfish liver is a bit of an acquired taste.

I think maybe it may have been slightly bitter

so what I'm going to do is dress the monkfish

with a little sweet wine reduction.

It's all subject to taste. You thought it was nice.

Yeah, I know I did.

Bitterness is not a bad thing.

It's nice to have a little bit of bitterness in dishes,

but it's three completely different palates to cook for.

Paul's determined to use all the cuts of monkfish,

despite the risk. So, plates his liver pate and toast,

then cheek in spiced batter

and tartar of loin and smoked duck,

all served with a poached egg yolk.

-There you go.

-Well done.

Will Paul's Coliseum enjoy the sweet taste of success?

Or leave a bitter taste in the judges' mouths?

Well, if as much ingenuity and creativity has gone into

making the dish as into making the plate, we should be in for an explosive experience!

-What is it?

-It's raw fish of some sort.

It's a very intriguing dish. What I really like,

is the hot fish, the sort of curried, deep-fried...

It's really quite amazing.

Do we see a connection between the curried fish and the raw fish?

Let's have a look at the card and see if we can solve this particular mystery. Ah!

Nose to tail monkfish, with cheeks,

a loin and livers on toast.

Where are these livers on toast?

It's hollow.

-I think there's something lurking underneath here, y'know.

-The dungeons.

Oh no!

-Second course.

-The egg yolk

has gone through onto that.

You know, that is taking an enormous amount of trouble over presentation.

It's very interesting, that piece underneath. It's quite challenging.

Too powerful for me!

I thought the liver is quite...

Fish liver is pretty strong stuff

and that is unadulterated fish liver!

I think the chef has really tried extremely hard here.

It's very unusual, and it's got lots of very clean flavours.

It's the way the dish has been thought through.

That's where the originality really lies.

All we're saying is we absolutely love it,

but we think the bottom needs a rethink.

So, the distinctive monkfish liver may have let Paul down,

leaving it neck-and-neck as they head into the main course.

I think my menu should win over Nathan's,

because I think Nathan's menu is very simple

and I think I've got some real special dishes

to take to that banquet. I really do.

I'll do everything in my power today to beat Paul with my dishes,

get to the banquet, because I've never been there before.

It's the main event. The meat course

and Paul took gold first time round.

So, Paul, main course. You must be feeling confident? You got a ten out of ten from Tom.

I couldn't breathe for a few seconds. I even welled up!

I'm not changing a thing. If I can score a 10

from Jason Atherton and Tom Kerridge,

two of the most respected figures in the industry,

then why would I make any changes? I'd be stupid to make changes.

Paul's up first with his boundary-pushing chicken Kiev,

filled with tarragon, served with parfait potatoes,

sweetcorn, peas and oysters.

He's showcasing his presentation skills again,

serving parts on a wooden block

and in an oyster shell.

But just as he's about to serve,

disaster strikes!

BLEEP

As one of his shells spills and ruins the dish.

BLEEP

I'm going to have to replate. I need another gray plate.

I need another gray plate. I'm going to have to replate one, please.

One of the oysters just obviously didn't sit right on the crumb.

Working quickly, he changes

the shell filled with his ragu of sweetcorn, peas and oyster

and serves. Making it just in time,

but what will the judges make of his playful take on a 70s classic?

Watch the oyster shells, please, lads. Thank you.

Oh my God!

A little chicken. I like this, which is a really good touch. The wishbones!

We got to pull them. We got to pull them.

Ah! It IS chicken Kiev.

There's a chicken liver hidden here in the bottom of the bowl

and absolutely delicious it is, too.

-And chicken skin.

-Yeah.

Triangles. Oh, these are completely blissful.

I think this whole dish is a triumph.

I think putting this down at an Olympic banquet,

I think they're going to buy into it really quickly.

I think there is too much going on, actually.

I would agree that the pate is not actually necessary

and we could probably lose the sauce.

There's the breast, there's the oysters, there's the parfait.

Are these things actually brought together apart from via the notion of a chicken?

Come on, Matthew.

This is an absolute winner.

I love what the chef has done here, I love all the detail

and the other thing, it's beautiful.

Hang on. This dish is beige.

Apart from the green peas and the yellow sweetcorn,

everything else is beige in this.

Now, look. Stop it, you two.

-You are just arguing for the sake of arguing.

-No.

-Yes, you are.

You are really enjoying that dish and you should just admit it.

You've got to be fair to the chef.

He's taken a lot of trouble to cook it, you're enjoying eating it

so stop rubbishing it.

I've said there's a great deal to enjoy about the eight dishes which appear in front of me!

So, divided opinion again.

Will Nathan's take on surf and turf give him a chance

to take pole position?

Nathan's taking a risk on an unusual combination of duck and monkfish,

which Tom questioned earlier in the week

and resulted in Nathan receiving the lowest mains score.

But his passion for the sea holds no bounds

and the monkfish is staying put.

Are you making any changes about what you said,

thinking it might be two dishes in one?

I've got to believe in what I'm doing, you know?

I like the dish, so I take on board what Tom thinks,

-obviously, he's been to the banquet as main course winner.

-Yeah.

But this dish shows my character.

But I really like the way the barbecue sauce

marries the duck and monkfish together.

I really had to be firm in my belief and stay strong with myself

because my simple food takes a lot of bravery.

Not changing a thing,

Nathan serves up his pink duck breast with an equal portion

of the barbecued monkfish and a ball of confit duck leg.

What will the judges make of the combination?

They face the judges like that. Thank you.

I'm not that confident about it with the judges, to be honest.

I'm not sure how they'll take it.

This is surf and turf, isn't it?

-I think this is actually a very interesting choice.

-Yeah, it is.

I mean, we've never had a meat and fish course together,

a turf and surf in this way.

And I love the way the little various elements

are knitted together.

The duck is absolutely fabulous.

The quality of the duck, the way he's done it.

I love the barbecue sauce and I think if someone had told me

duck and monkfish, I'd have gone, "I'm not too sure about that."

-Me too.

-But really beautiful.

I love the little croquette, which is obviously well-cooked duck leg.

And that barbecue sauce is amazing.

It's a really lovely, lovely piece just of pure cooking.

They understand the value of ingredients together and combinations.

The only thing for me that lets this dish down is its look.

I think when the dish went down, I mean,

the taste of the dish is so much better than the look of the dish.

Although each of the constituent parts are themselves wonderful,

when they come together they make something even better

and that's where the true genius of this dish lies.

There's nothing on this dish that hasn't been carefully

and expertly attended to.

It's gold medal winning stuff.

So in a round about turn, all judges are in favour of Nathan's main,

leaving the competition on a knife edge as they tackle desserts.

Nathan's sticking to his guns again, recreating his lemon

and elderflower tart with strawberry and sparkling wine sorbet.

It only scored a six yesterday

and Paul is keen to question Nathan's plan for improvement.

Bit worried about this course, being the lowest scoring one of the week?

I'm not worried because the flavours work well.

It is simple but I've tried to make sure it's perfectly cooked.

-Happy with the pastry?

-Yeah, it's definitely cooked.

It's a bit thinner as well

and I've added much more elderflower flavour to it.

Yeah, yeah.

And less lemon so the balance is there,

so, with the whole dish.

If I went to his restaurant and had that, brilliant.

Great flavours, you know, really, really good.

But whether or not I think it's the right dessert for the Olympic banquet, I'm not too sure.

Nathan's simple take on lemon and strawberries will need

perfect execution to catch the judges' attention.

Considering how critical they can be, it's a risky move.

Right.

Will Nathan's take on a classic lemon tart

be a grand enough finale for an Olympic banquet?

This does look terribly conventional, doesn't it?

-I have a problem with this particular lemon tart.

-Why?

It's not nearly lemony enough.

-The base is very soft.

-It's undercooked.

Very undercooked.

To be honest, I don't quite understand the combination.

Why have we got strawberry sorbet and strawberries with lemon pie?

Also, it's not a particularly good sorbet, is it?

What does the syrup taste of? There's something strange in that syrup.

Let's see. "The sorbet was finished with a Cornish sparkling wine." That's obviously what it is.

Meringue is slightly soft and chewy which I rather like.

It's a pudding of bits rather than a pudding of puddings.

It feels like a pudding of leftovers.

Someone who's gone to the fridge and gone, "A bit of lemon tart left.

"There's some sorbet, there." Pile it all in.

I think this is clearly a chef who's a great chef

and has put all his energies into his first three courses

and doesn't think pudding is important.

Hasn't noticed that we really love good puddings.

You know, it's just not up to scratch.

It's a crashing end to Nathan's otherwise shining menu.

Could this be Paul's chance to clinch the top spot?

He's going for gold with his ancient Greek meets modern-day Olympic dish.

An unusual combination of pistachio and olive oil sponge

with feta cheese and melon,

served with a chocolate disk and gold caramel sauce.

-Are you changing anything?

-Not really.

I'm just going to put less feta, almost like little shards of rock salt.

Paul lost marks for not getting quantities right

and in a last-minute decision is slimming down

how he serves the dish.

But in the determination to improve, he's taken his eye off the clock.

-Paul, are you all right, there? You're running a bit late.

-Yeah.

Just a couple of minutes behind but rather just send it

how I really want it, you know.

But they won't wait for long.

A mistake now could cost Paul the competition.

Working quickly, he starts with the pistachio cake,

his crisped rice and chocolate fondant,

then strawberries and compressed watermelon

before finishing with his specially commissioned disk,

feta cheese shavings and hot gold caramel sauce.

There you are, lads.

You know, I ran over on the dessert at the end

but I'm not going to chuck it out just for the sake of getting it out.

I've got one opportunity to prove to them three

that I'm worthy of having a place in the finals.

If they have to wait a few minutes, I hope it was worth waiting for.

-Wow! Look at that!

-I don't think I can eat it!

-Oh, look.

I'm filling up some great cavity in here.

776BC, that must have been when the Olympic Games started.

And then we have 2012.

I will say something about this chocolate disk.

-It is completely orgasmic.

-OLIVER LAUGHS

Oh! Oh!

And this is pistachio cake, presumably.

And delicious, it is.

Funnily enough, I think they work together.

They appear to be two separate things

but in fact they go terribly, terribly well together.

The little pistachio nuts on top of the cake are salty.

And the cake is sweet and oily and they're,

it's quite an interesting combination.

And these little gentle bits of fruit which actually

are very refreshing.

If I'd just won a gold medal

and I had a choice between the gold medal and this chocolate pudding,

I'd say, "Can I have the chocolate pudding?" It's nirvana.

It's just one of those things, every mouthful is just absolutely sublime.

Dishes served, the anxious wait for the verdict begins.

I'm battered, I'm a bit burnt, I'm bruised, you know, I'm exhausted.

My feet feel like they just want to fall off

but I'll be really gutted if my menu's not chosen.

Only one of them will have a place in the final.

It's nerve wracking.

It's quite frustrating as well, cos you want to know what the answer is.

It's the big reveal as the judges find out for the first time

which dishes form each menu.

It was really beautiful, very interesting dishes,

loads of great tastes.

I think over all, it's probably the most consistent day

we've had from two chefs.

I thought we had a couple of dishes which weren't too brilliant

but the rest were amazing

and one dish I'll never forget as long as I live.

Paul's playful presentation and unique take on classics

have paved the way to create a boundary-pushing menu

while Nathan's classic dishes with a twist

showcase local ingredients

and perfect execution.

Now, the judges need to make their decision

based on the menu and not the chef.

-Well, I have made up my mind. Matthew?

-Yes, Prue.

I've made up my mind as well.

-Oliver?

-I have indeed made up my mind.

Let's call in the chefs.

For Paul and Nathan, the gastronomic endurance test is over

but the pain will only have been worth it for one of them.

So, welcome, chefs.

I don't know what kind of day you've had but we've had a terrific day.

You have done some cracking cooking for us. Was it rough in the kitchen?

-Yeah.

-It's always tough, this competition.

I'm sure you want to know who's coming to the national finals.

-Matthew, have you made up your mind? A or B?

-It's menu B for me, Prue.

-Oliver?

-Menu A for me.

Well, I'm choosing menu B. So we have a winner.

But who cooked menu B?

Let's find out.

So the chef going forward to represent the South West

in the final of the Great British Menu is...

Nathan Outlaw. Congratulations, Nathan.

Well done, big man.

-Well done. Good on you.

-What does it feel like to be a winner?

I'm totally surprised. Totally surprised.

It's been such a tough week this week.

After a couple of dishes I was in the lead through Tom's guidance

and then Paul pulled it back towards the end of the week

so totally surprised.

If you want to know what you won on, it was pure gastronomy.

Every dish was a revelation.

Basically it was a tale of two menus.

One was more accomplished with the exception of the pudding.

There's some wonderful little contrasts and the use of detail,

it made us think about it whereas I would say with Paul's menu,

it was dazzling,

fantastic visual appeal and had been brilliantly thought through

but the actual realisation and the sort of balance on the plate

was never quite as I would personally want it.

For me, I thought your chocolate pudding was fabulous,

I thought the chicken was fabulous, however,

my fellow esteemed judges

felt that there was sometimes an element too much.

-I can see you're very disappointed, Paul. Are you?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Gutted.

It has been an amazing day for us

and thank you very much and Nathan, congratulations.

-Paul, commiserations.

-Thank you.

It's been a pleasure to cook for you anyway.

Well, thank you.

Please go and have a drink. I'm sure you need one.

Well done, good one you.

-CHEERING

-Well done.

Didn't get there this time. Fell at the last hurdle, I suppose.

I'm not going to get the opportunity

to take the South West to the banquet

but Nathan is and I wish his all the best.

ALL: CHEERS!

I'm just really proud of what I've done.

I stuck to what I believe in food and I'm going to make sure now

that the South West gets a dish at the final banquet.

The heats are over.

BLEEP

Next week, finals begin.

-I'll be watching you, sunshine.

-This is the biggest week of my life.

I want to win this competition. I want to get a dish in the banquet.

There's a lot of big boys in the kitchen, a lot of egos.

And then there's me.

The cream of the competition locking horns to win the ultimate prize,

cooking their dish at the Olympic banquet.

Life doesn't get much better than this.

It's just a masterpiece.

It's got to be a 10.

And the chefs face a monumental shock.

"This week only some of you

"will be cooking all four courses for the judges."

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