South West Dessert Great British Menu

It's the day of reckoning on Great British Menu

for three of the South West's finest chefs.

Innovative young gun Peter Sanchez-Iglesias.

I've got to get it exactly, exactly right.

Rising star Emily Watkins.

The temperature is rising, we're getting there.

-And classical chef Chris Eden.

-I can't do any more.

All week they have been battling for the chance to cook

at a special banquet celebrating 25 years of Red Nose Day.

Yesterday was the main course,

and despite Peter getting into the groove...

It lacked just that little bit of ambition.

-..and Chris getting his best score yet...

-8/10.

-..Emily's venison narrowed the gap.

-9/10.

Today it's the dessert course

and only two chefs will go through to the judges.

There's only one point between them two and it's going to be tough.

-Peter rolls out another classic...

-Apple pie.

Emily is not keen to settle for last place.

-It's not a nice position to be in.

-Chris promises great things.

I'm going to create the perfect peach.

But has he set his sights too high?

At the moment, I'm really worried about them.

This year's challenge is to create a performance on a plate.

Fun, gastronomic masterpieces that will make people smile.

The chefs have all done their bit to help raise money for Comic Relief.

Today is their last shot to impress two-Michelin starred chef

and veteran of the competition, Tom Kerridge.

Plenty of chefs can trip up over pastry.

One that keeps their calm, and holds their own, gets their head down

and gets the job done,

they're probably the one that's going to go through.

There's only a one-point gap between you two.

I really need to get points on this course.

You seem to be doing pretty well. You got nine in your last score

and you keep on getting good points coming back at me, don't you?

First into the kitchen is rising star Emily Watkins.

She may have done well yesterday, but she's still in last place.

I'm feeling huge pressure, I really don't want to let myself down.

I really hope I still have a little bit of energy left

to take it through to the next level.

-What have we got in here?

-We're making a lolly and sweets today.

-OK.

Focusing on two main ingredients.

This time it is the Guernsey milk and the fresh rhubarb.

What are you going to do with this?

That's the key point of this dessert.

It's going to be made into first of all clotted cream

because it's the clotted cream which is the key component

of several of my dishes.

-What have we got here?

-Popping candy.

-Right, OK.

We've got some more magic powder things,

have you got enough time?

That's the big question today.

I'm up first, so the time pressure is really going to be there.

And you're feeling more confident

now you've got a 9/10 for your main course?

I can't deny that that did make me happy.

Once again, Emily's using experimental techniques.

Her nostalgic spin on lolly and sweets features a rhubarb

and clotted cream lolly,

Jelly Tots, milk bottles and a fizzy rhubarb cordial.

She's got some wonderful ingredients.

She's making her own clotted cream which sounds absolutely stunning.

The one thing that does worry me about Emily's dish is

that she has got a lot to do.

Next up is innovative young gun Peter Sanchez-Iglesias.

He's held on to top spot all week with his witty, clever cooking

and he's determined to go all the way.

I really want to wow Tom with the dessert course.

It's the end, the grand finale

so I want to do something a little bit special.

I've just got to make sure I execute and get it right.

-What dish are we doing?

-I'm busy doing apple pie.

We've had a picnic, fish and chips,

-a roast dinner and now having apple pie?

-All the classics.

-All what everybody knows.

-OK. Any reason we're using Granny Smiths?

Just because they're such a great apple, a real tartness to it,

-works really, really well.

-High in acidity. And a lot of water.

What else have we got? Classic spices, we got nutmeg.

-Exactly, some cloves and some cinnamon.

-Cloves and some cinnamon.

Yeah. This is what my nan used to use.

Are we having ice cream or anything with apple pie?

Yeah, we've got some custard in there and some ice cream as well.

-I was a greedy boy and I always wanted both.

-Yeah.

TOM LAUGHS

Malic acid, what are you using that for?

I'm using some sugar with some malic acid

just to really give that acidity.

You're fairly comfortable and confident

you can stay ahead of the game today?

I think so, it's going to be tough, but I'm going to do my best.

Trailblazer Peter is staying true to form

and hoping to raise a smile with an inventive

and unique twist on his nan's apple pie served with hot custard

and quirky cubes of vanilla ice cream.

My only concern really is can he elevate it to something special

and also the use of Granny Smith apples?

They do contain a lot of moisture and a lot of acidity.

Last into the kitchen is classical chef Chris Eden.

His ambitious dishes have been a bit hit and miss this week,

but he's managed to hold onto second place.

Just one point above Emily, he knows today is a battle for survival.

The dessert course today is really important.

We are that tight, it's that close, if I don't get a good score,

I won't be going through to the judges' chamber.

-OK, Chris, what are we doing?

-We are doing peach Melba.

OK, the classic, the old school famous retro dessert.

Doing it in my own little special way.

I'm going to try to create the perfect peach.

OK, how are we going to do the perfect peach?

Peel the skin off the outside of it,

-take the stone out of the middle, but leaving it as one.

-Right, OK.

Filling it then with a vanilla panna cotta,

and then turning it over and using prosecco and grenadine,

making a jelly and going over the top of it,

turning it into a perfect peach.

-With a red topping on it?

-Yes.

-Like a red nose?

-Hopefully.

You're going to pick the peaches from a tree,

you're going to have lollipops of raspberries,

some juice of raspberries in a watering can,

-so I want the whole thing to be inspired by Eden.

-OK.

-So, a Chris Eden-inspired peach Melba?

-Yes.

Fantastic, sounds like fun.

Chris's Last Laugh is a technical

and extravagant play on classic peach Melba.

Edible soil crumb, raspberry sorbet lollipops and the perfect peach.

He's gone down a fun route.

He's gone down the classic flavour of peach Melba which everybody loves,

but the idea of taking the stone out of the peach

and then setting the panna cotta inside of it, it's a lot of processes

to get something to then look so amazing.

He told me it's the perfect peach, well, I'll be the judge of that.

And a lollipop, I hear you're making?

Emily's making lollipops as well. Flavour of the month, lollipops.

-We'll have a lollipop off.

-A lollipop off?

-Yeah.

-I love that.

In the kitchen, the battle of the lollies commences.

Chris starts his by mixing raspberry puree with stock syrup

and a special stabilising agent.

Across the kitchen, Chris's main rival Emily

is making clotted cream ice cream for her lollies.

It's really hard that Chris is doing lollies as well,

particularly as it's the main part of my dish.

Great chefs can fall at the dessert course.

There is only one point between them two and it's going to be tough.

Anything can happen.

To give his apple pie the winning edge,

unflappable front man Peter is rolling feuilles de brick,

a special crisp pastry over his sweet pastry.

A clever technique that's got veteran Tom interested.

-What have we got here?

-So this is my pastry for my apple pie.

I literally laid... That is underneath, and that's on top.

-Try to keep that shape.

-Yes, exactly.

Try and create a little shell.

'Peter's pastry is looking really interesting.'

I mean, this is a guy that knows how to cook.

As well as competing to cook at the banquet,

the chefs have all helped raise some much-needed funds for Comic Relief.

Innovative chef Peter put himself in the firing line.

I heard you had some things thrown at you.

Aw, you wouldn't believe it.

You wouldn't believe it. Oh, man, it was crazy. Absolutely crazy.

Basically, I was sat up on a little seat

and basically people just threw apples at me. At a target.

As soon as it hit the target,

I went straight down into the dunking pool, and it was freezing.

Paying to throw an apple at you, were they? Raise money?

Oh, yeah. People loved it.

To help raise money for Comic Relief and get feedback on his apple pie,

Peter left his restaurant in north Bristol

and headed for the city centre.

Apples are the star of his nostalgic dessert,

and they play a crucial part in his challenge.

I'm going to be cooking up some apple pies

that I'm doing for my dessert, so a little tasting for everyone,

and then I'm going to be going into a dunking pool,

so people are going to be throwing apples at a little target

and then I'm going to be dunked into freezing cold water,

so I'm a little bit nervous, cos there's going to be a big crowd.

Helping Peter to raise some cash and a few smiles

is actress Melanie Walters

from award-winning comedy series Gavin and Stacey.

She's keen to sample his apple pie.

-Oh, my gosh, it's gorgeous.

-Thank you.

-It really is gorgeous.

-Good, good, good.

-Sorry, can I have some more?

Before he becomes the target of apple-wielding Bristolians,

Melanie shows Peter how to cope with his nerves

for his challenge and the competition back in the kitchen.

OK, so the best thing to do for nerves, I find,

is deep breathing. If you breathe in through the nose fully...

That's it. Keep those shoulders down.

And out through the mouth.

And feel grounded and heavy and sure of yourself.

-Yeah, that feels better already.

-Yeah.

-Oh, wicked, my love.

Thanks. Thanks very much. I really do need that.

Well, no, you'll be fine, absolutely fine.

For a good cause we're raising money,

and I have to get some people now.

With Peter firmly in place, Melanie draws in the crowds.

Come and have some apple pie! Come and dunk a chef in some water!

All for Comic Relief. Come on, come and join us!

We're having great fun here.

It's all for money. He doesn't mind!

Then it's crunch time.

Oooh! Close.

-Ooh!

-Oh!

-Oh, that was so close!

-I might go in!

-Look at that! And he's in!

-CHEERING

So while Peter is well and truly dunked,

the crowd tuck into his apple pie.

Really lovely apple pie.

I like the combination of the crispy top

and the crumble underneath.

Really nice. Really lovely.

-It's great.

-You liked it?

-Yeah, really good.

It's really good.

When they threw the apple and he fell in the water,

everybody laughed, which is just typical.

I think he had a good day, and good on him for being such a sport.

I'm absolutely freezing cold,

but I think it's given me that massive push to go in there

and really, really go hard at my dish.

After helping to raise some cash, Melanie has the last laugh.

Right.

-Oh!

-Aargh!

Awww!

All the chefs competing in the series

are doing their bit for Comic Relief,

by taking part in Menu Relief,

along with hundreds of other restaurants all over the country.

Go to bbc.co.uk/rednoseday

to find out more and learn about Red Nose Day 2013.

With the pressure on back in the kitchen,

Peter shows off his techniques for keeping calm.

Put both hands on your stomach like that across,

and then literally breathe through your nose,

but make sure your stomach comes out whilst you breathe in.

And then out through your mouth.

So has that been your secret to success this week, then?

Er...yeah, probably.

HE LAUGHS

I'm very worried about what Peter's going to do for his dessert.

It's called apple pie, but there's no way it'll be simple.

It's surely going to be the absolute show-stopper, isn't it?

Determined to stay ahead of Emily and get past Peter,

Chris has promised to produce the perfect peach

for his extravagant spin on peach Melba.

But there's a problem.

What's going on? Talk to me, tell me.

Erm...

they're really quite large peaches,

-and the stone is really attached to the actual peach itself.

-Yeah.

So I've had real problems with poaching them,

trying to take the stone out.

It's just completely thrown me.

I need to do something with it. I have to serve a peach,

cos otherwise it isn't going to be a peach Melba.

The perfect peach might not be so perfect.

Chris is having a real nightmare in there.

He's poached his peaches in a water bath,

and then every time he goes to remove the stone,

the actual peach collapses.

He was looking at having a whole peach,

stuffing it with a panna cotta and covering it with a gel,

so the peach needs to hold itself.

At the minute, it's not holding onto itself.

-So, are they OK? Are they going to be all right?

-I don't know, mate.

I really don't know.

They don't seem to be feeling very well.

Oh. Well, good luck, man.

In a bid to get past her Michelin-starred rivals,

Emily's going all out with her nostalgic dessert.

She's adding popping candy to her clotted cream ice lollies,

and for laughs is serving them with a traditional lolly stick joke.

-Pleased with them?

-So far, so good.

-What are you going to do?

-Get them in the blast chiller and then let them reset?

-Exactly.

I just want to firm up those edges so they're really, really firm,

and I'm waiting for the temperature of the rhubarb

to drop a little bit so that it's not so hot

that it just slides straight off them.

-So it doesn't melt it.

-Exactly, yeah.

Emily's right in control of her game,

which is actually the complete opposite to Chris,

who's having a bit of a peach palaver.

To try to remove the stone and keep the peaches intact,

Chris tries another approach.

Give me loads of ice, mate. Loads of ice.

They're laid on ice and put in the blast chiller.

Now I'm walking into unknown territory.

I don't know how long they're going to need.

If the stone's going to come out of them, because they're so firm.

These peaches have to be perfect otherwise I don't have a dish.

And at the moment I'm really worried about them.

You know your main competitor's having a real nightmare over there,

don't you? He's having a real, real problem with his peaches.

I feel for him. It's not a nice position to be in, at all.

In a last ditch attempt to remove the stone,

Chris has resorted to poaching his peaches in liquid nitrogen.

Have you ever used liquid nitrogen before, Chris?

Never used it before, no.

Rising star Emily buys Chris more time,

as she's under fire first today with her lolly and sweets.

She dips her rhubarb and clotted cream jelly tots into a special gel.

Can I try one?

Yes, certainly.

-And is this the clotted cream that you've made yourself?

-This is, yeah.

She rolls her chilled clotted cream milk bottles in fine icing sugar,

tops her rhubarb jelly with bite- sized pieces of vanilla shortbread,

along with her sweets and rhubarb tuiles,

pops straws filled with fizzy powder into little bottles of rhubarb cordial.

And serves her rhubarb gel-coated lollies in comedy red noses.

That does put a smile on your face.

Come on. Let's go and eat it before the ice cream melts.

Carry the wibbly wobbly ice cream.

What do you call a deer with no eyes?

No idea.

No eye deer! Brilliant! Love that.

What's the fastest cake in the world?

I don't know, you tell me.

Scone.

Are you pleased with that?

I'm pleased with the flavours of the rhubarb, the clotted cream,

it's a little bit of a pop coming through now at the end.

Unfortunately, that's not having the impact which I'd like it to have.

That's really, really creamy.

It's like really delicious and rich and then that rhubarb jelly

on the outside of it just kind of gives a little bit tartness.

And then, all of a sudden, your mouth starts popping.

-All of a sudden, I've got popping in my mouth.

-Yeah.

This is the clotted cream bottle.

-Yeah, you know, like the childhood sweet.

-Yes.

Is that clotted cream flavour coming to your mouth enough?

To be completely honest, I felt they should be a little more chilled.

Oh, I used to love these.

Actually, that just tastes of rhubarb. Tastes delicious.

Do you think the shortbread's cooked correctly?

I like it like that.

Really great. Real fresh rhubarb flavour. It's good fun.

It's your final dish. Is this the thing that's going to get you

into the spotlight for the judges?

-Another dish where Emily's coming back, coming back.

-Big time.

She's coming back and now she's coming back again even stronger.

I don't know whether to, erm, pack up my things

or start prepping for tomorrow.

With time ticking, Chris's persistence with his peaches

and poaching them in liquid nitrogen may have paid off.

Does it appear to be working?

-This way is a lot better than any other way I've tried so far.

-OK.

-Please keep an eye on the time, Chris, yeah?

-Yeah. No problem.

-You all right?

-Yes, Chef.

My first year at Great British Menu,

my dessert went horribly wrong at this point.

OK? But I still went through to the banquet. All's not lost, chief, yeah?

Yes, Chef.

Next to be scrutinised is innovative Peter.

He tops his apple puree with cooked apple chunks.

Have we got music or soundtracks with this one?

-Can't give it away, have to keep it a secret.

-OK.

I've got a surprise for you.

He pours his hot vanilla custard into jugs.

Adds his first surprise,

chewy cubes of vanilla ice cream frozen with nitrogen.

Tops with his crisp pastry lids,

sprinkled with malic acid for extra tartness.

Pours his roasted cinnamon and nutmeg mixed with hot water

into pots and pours liquid nitrogen into a flask.

-There we go.

-Apple pie.

And then we'll just pour over this. Then we get the smell.

So that is the memory I had of my nan... I used to be in the kitchen

and I'd see my nan making apple pie, we'd get this amazing smell

with all these spices and I just, I just absolutely love it.

Right, shall we take this through?

Go for it, Chef.

-Wow.

-If I close my eyes I would say to you apple pie, apple crumble.

-Because that's what I smell.

-Yeah.

-Happy with the pastry and the way it turned out?

-Yeah, yeah, massively.

I wanted that lovely little crisp.

And the filling, are you happy with the filling?

-Yeah, definitely.

-Not too sweet?

I wanted to have the sweet and sharp.

-So it's quite surprising.

-Not too sharp?

-Oh, just got something really sharp.

-Pastry's delicious.

Those apples are really tart.

So the malic acid that you added to it, do you think that worked?

Did it help in anyway?

Just added again a little bit of fun to it.

I think it's an absolutely delicious dessert.

I don't think that malic acid is necessary to that strength at all.

It's making my eyes water.

So did you use the right apples in this?

Yeah, I think so, Chef.

-Very clever with ice cream in the middle.

-Very clever with these lovely aromas.

-Yeah.

Larger pieces the ice cream, smaller pieces the ice cream?

Yeah, maybe a little bit larger as well. Just to get it right.

Apple tart, vanilla ice cream, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.

Is this your final showcase finale?

Is this the thing that's going to put you in the spotlight?

I...just to say...

I don't think that's as good as some of his other dishes that he's done.

He's three points ahead,

I still think it's anybody's race at the moment.

Last to the pass is Chris,

with his extravagant Eden-inspired play on peach Melba.

He covers his vanilla panna cotta peaches

-with prosecco and grenadine gel.

-They look amazing.

He adds his playful edible soil crumb to his tray.

Inserts his specially made tree and attaches his red peaches.

And finally, he adds his raspberry sorbet lollies,

raspberry jus and peach puree.

Amazing. You all right?

HE LAUGHS NERVOUSLY

The end of a right stressful day!

Let's go and eat it, before it melts away.

Guys, I'll let you enjoy your peach tree.

Let's go.

Finally got there.

That was probably the hardest, most tense time

I've ever had in any kitchen.

-Don't know how he's managed to do it in the end, to be honest.

-No.

-At one point, I thought he just wasn't going to have the peaches on the dish.

-No.

Are you happy with that sorbet?

It tastes of raspberry and I'm happy with that.

-The raspberry is lovely and strong, that flavour.

-Yeah.

-Really nice.

Are you happy with the way the peach is cooked?

The peach is soft. And it's poached.

I didn't want it to be a peach where it was still rock hard and

it's almost like a raw fruit salad. I want it to be a poached peach.

Some of these peaches are not the best ripe, are they?

No, it's not that flavour, is it?

Yeah, I find it quite messy to eat as well.

And the gel, are you happy with the way the gel is on there?

You know, peaches and prosecco, like a classic kind of combination.

The crumbs made of freeze-dried raspberries, gingerbread,

pistachios, and white chocolate.

It's really nice to have some texture on the peach.

I didn't think it needed quite so many components to make it up.

And where you've taken the stone out,

is there enough vanilla mousse in there?

The peaches have been a real issue today

and I would like to have seen

a little bit more vanilla mousse in there.

Panna cotta's set up really nicely.

It'd be nice to have a bit more panna cotta, actually,

cos I think that was about it.

At the beginning of the dessert course,

you promised me the perfect peach. Is this the perfect peach?

Erm, I've been through hell and back to get you a poached peach.

Given a chance to go through to the judges' chamber,

I will give you a perfect peach.

Aww...!

-Hello, mate. Fair play, man.

-Thank heavens it's over.

-You all right?

That was tough stuff.

That was full on. That was proper full on.

It wasn't perfect, and it wasn't the perfect peach,

but I gave him something and I'm proud of that.

Hello, chefs. Tough day?

I'll start with you, Emily, and your lolly and sweets.

The ice cream.

It was amazing.

It was singularly one of the best ice creams I've ever had.

It was absolutely stunning.

I think the popping candy in the ice cream,

you were worried that there wasn't quite enough there, but for me,

I thought it was absolutely perfect.

The fizzy rhubarb drink.

How much fun was that?

The dish itself, for me, it nailed the brief, it made me smile.

But...

as much as I loved it, I'm really not sure how it sits as a dessert.

I think you could have done more with the tin of sweets.

Also, I think maybe you need to look at HOW it was actually presented.

Peter...

your apple pie.

I want to give your nan a job.

Now, I don't cook with liquid nitrogen,

but the way that you used it, it was very clever.

The theatre that we had up here on the pass and the smells,

the aromas it gave off, I thought it was fantastic,

really filled the room, made me feel that I was in your nan's kitchen.

The pastry I thought was very clever, was absolutely delicious,

fantastic crunch to it, really, really good.

But...

..as good as the pastry was,

it got spoiled with the malic acid.

It left a real sour taste in my mouth.

In fact, almost to the point there were parts of it

that I found quite offensive.

OK, Chris, for your peach Melba...

Lots and lots of thought went into the presentation,

but I'm not sure you really achieved what you were looking for.

I know you had an absolute nightmare with those peaches.

I bet you never want to see a peach again.

But I've got to be honest with you,

all the flavours of a classic peach Melba were there.

The soil added some great texture to the dish.

But...

..you promised me the perfect peach,

and it didn't quite reach those heights.

Although it was cooked very well, the peach itself actually lacked flavour.

The panna cotta was perhaps set a little firm for me,

and there wasn't really quite enough of it.

OK, chefs,

it's time for the scores.

So...

With a score of seven out of ten for their dessert,

and giving them the highest score across the week...

-is Peter. Well done.

-Thanks, Chef.

So, chefs, that leaves two of you.

With just one point between you.

Emily...

for your lolly and sweets,

I'm giving you...

eight out of ten.

Chris...

for your peach Melba...

I am giving you...

..six out of ten.

Well done, Emily. You're through to the judges.

Thank you, Chef.

Bad luck, Chris.

You're a great chef. I'm truly sorry.

All credit for not giving up.

That was true determination.

But today I think you were beaten by the pudding.

Guys, well done.

Good luck tomorrow.

Well done, guys.

Of course, at one point I didn't actually think

I was actually going to produce a dessert, but you know, I think

I did pretty well for getting the peach course to the pass.

I knew that my dessert was a risk. I'm so pleased.

Now to be cooking for the judges is going to be an absolute honour,

so I'm really, really happy.

Tomorrow, Peter and Emily face the fastidious judges.

I think this is a fair old disaster.

Stress levels are running high...

I don't like that. Agh, can't get this to work.

..and mistakes start to creep in.

You ain't going to believe it.

That puree, what I just used, was the one for my main course.

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