Central Main Great British Menu

This week on Great British Menu -

three of the central regions' finest chefs...

former champion Aktar Islam...

-Beneath this, my legs are...

-Yeah, I can see, I can see!

-Daniel Clifford's protege Mark Poynton...

-Anything I can do?

-Stay out of my way.

-And ambitious young gun Jason Hodnett...

I'm classically trained, so I know I can cook it properly.

..are fighting it out to get their dishes to a banquet

commemorating the 70th anniversary of D-Day at a bastion

of the Second World War, the incredible St Paul's Cathedral.

Yesterday's fish course saw Mark storm to a three-point lead...

-This must mean a lot to you. You're shaking.

-Sweating as well.

-..leaving Aktar and Jason in joint second place.

-Don't worry, boys.

I'll get you.

Today's the main course

and Mark's determined to maintain pole position.

I listened to Marcus, you know.

He thought I was playing it safe, so I'll show him what I can do.

But with Aktar primed to take him down...

So this is our little war, Aktar.

Yes, it is, and I hope to be just as victorious.

..will Jason sneak under the radar to snatch a victory?

I think I need that more than you.

This year, the chefs are commemorating 70 years

since British troops secured the vital D-Day victory

by creating dishes that pay tribute to the incredible

bravery of wartime Britain.

Looks like he's been parachuted in behind enemy lines!

They've researched how war affected their own communities.

With all the menfolk going off to the War, I was eight years old

and I was on the tractor.

Judging them is former dessert winner

and two Michelin-starred heavyweight, Marcus Wareing.

For me, they got off to a slow start.

I want their main course to be the pinnacle.

I'm expecting them now to start really revving it up.

I want to see someone really pushing it,

be really fighting for their position.

I'm in the lead by three points, boys.

What are you going to do to catch me up?

So no-one is safe at this stage, are they, surely?

Do you think your main course is three points better than mine?

-Yeah.

-You are confident - I admire that

but we'll let the food do the talking.

First up is Michelin-starred Mark Poynton.

Despite coming out on top with his fish course yesterday,

he was marked down for playing it safe.

Today he is pushing himself out of his classically trained

-comfort zone.

-My main course - there's a few risks.

I'm using a lot of different techniques,

so there's a lot that could go wrong

but I think if I get my timings right, it's going to be a winner.

-Hello, Marcus.

-Morning, Mark. How are you?

Tell me the name of the dish.

Operation Overlord.

It's about the last dish they had

-before they landed in Normandy.

-OK. Yeah.

They had a hotpot. So I'm going to do a beef and prune hotpot.

Though we're going to use this unusual cut of beef here.

It's called a Glasgow fillet,

-a traditional mincing and stewing steak.

-Oh, right. OK.

So we're going to slow cook that in a water bath

for an hour. 65 degrees. Still going to be pink.

It's quite tough so you need it like that.

And we're going to make a ragout as well.

And then we've got potato, smoked bacon terrine -

that's the hotpot element, so instead of having potatoes on top,

it's going to be in a little terrine.

Then we've got to make a potato cannelloni

with a prune and tarragon puree inside.

It's quite a humble dish.

I mean, at the end the day, I suppose it is a hotpot.

-Can you elevate this to a banquet dish?

-Yeah.

The style of cooking, the precision, the execution -

it's more technical, there's more risks.

-Is at a ten?

-We'll have to wait and see, won't we?

Mark's Operation Overlord. I'm already excited.

He's telling me a story.

He's almost sort of reading to me.

Beef and carrots - we all know it's a winner

but is it cutting edge enough?

Next up - and in joint second place is previous champion Aktar Islam.

He scored a seven for his fish course with Marcus expressing

concern he was over-complicating his cooking.

I'm confident with the main course. There's some big flavours in there.

Yes, I've reined it back but I've still got lots to do.

I mean, there's certain things - it's in the Aktar DNA!

Well, Aktar. How you doing?

-Very well, chef. How are you?

-OK. What's the title?

-Name of the dish is Dream Ration Box.

-OK.

-Where's the inspiration with this one?

-It's a sharing plate.

This one's all about the camaraderie,

whether it be at home or out in the field.

What better way to celebrate that bond than sharing a meal?

And for me, one of the things I always miss is a nice roast dinner.

Talk me through, because there is some beautiful ingredients here.

There's a lovely bit of sirloin which I'm going to roast off

-and slightly smoke in a barbecue.

-OK.

Got cheek which has been brined

-and that's going to go into a cottage pie, essentially.

-Lovely.

-Did you take on board what I said yesterday?

-Yeah.

I've listened and I've removed the pressed ox cheek that was

going to be part of one of the elements.

As always in your box, a selection of spices

and where is this going to be in the dish?

-With the sweetbread, there will be quite a bold flavour.

-Fantastic.

Sounds amazing. Do you like the sound of that?

Sounds like a lot of work again.

I forgot - there's Yorkshire puds as well.

But what I'm trying to do is a Yorkshire pudding

that tastes like a naan bread!

-Yorkshire naan bread!

-Yeah.

-Be edgy, but just be careful.

-Yeah, yeah.

Aktar's Dream Ration Box.

Not too sure where the spices fit with the roast.

I hope he's not going to have this disjointed dish, too many things.

I hope it all comes together as one complete dish.

Finally level on points with Aktar is determined newcomer

Jason Hodnett

With a main course inspired by his Army chef grandfather,

he's hoping to improve on the six he scored yesterday.

For the next course, I'd like to skip seven and go straight to eight.

The main course for me is one of my strongest dishes.

I know what the other two are capable of,

so yeah, there's nerves there

but this dish for me should be a winning banquet dish.

-Morning, Jason.

-Morning, chef.

-How you doing?

-Yeah, good, thanks.

-Good.

What's the name of your dish today?

Er, today we're going for Mess Tin, Boiled Beef and Carrots.

It's based very much around the mess tin and my grandad told me

about how they used it in Singapore on the beaches.

That's the sort of motivation, drive behind the dish.

-Talk me through them.

-Beautiful ox cheeks.

They're going to be cooked down in a pressure cooker.

-We're cooking them along with some beer.

-OK.

Beautiful tongue - we're cooking it with some red wine

so that again, another pressure cooker.

We're going to make a little horseradish cream cheese.

-I've got a carrot cake to make so we're doing...

-What?

-A carrot cake, so...

-Cake?

Yeah, so... Potato cakes was a big staple of the war.

-Yeah.

-We're going to make the carrot cake and then that's

going to become our breadcrumb for the potato cake itself, so some

new modern twists in there to sort

-of bring it up from just basic dishes.

-OK.

We have three beef dishes, you know, some serious marks to be done here.

I would LOVE to give out a ten. So listen, guys.

Have a great day, and I will look forward to tasting your food.

Thanks, chef.

Jason. Mess Tin, Boiled Beef and Carrots.

Maybe he thinks the carrot cake works with braised beef

and ox tongue, you know - this could be a marriage made in heaven.

It could also be a disaster.

With all three chefs serving beef,

Aktar's bullish about his prime cut of sirloin.

So with my dish, I'm trying to give the veterans a real treat.

But you two, you've both gone for a humble dish,

so do you think that's going to be a treat enough?

I'm going to be honest with you, Aktar.

For me, cooking's all about taking

humble ingredients and make 'em best you can.

It's easy to take prime cuts and serve 'em.

You're taking an easy way.

Well, one of the things about the War is that they were fighting

so they could have a better life.

So this is our little war, Aktar?

Yes, it is and I hope to be just as victorious.

-We'll see about that.

-O-ho-ho!

It doesn't need to be all bells and whistles and big pieces of sirloin.

And that's what it was all about at the time.

It was about doing what you could with what you had.

In joint second place with Aktar is ambitious young gun Jason,

who's taking a simple approach to cooking the ox tongue

and cheek in his mess tin, boiled beef and carrot dish,

inspired by his grandad's experience as an Army chef.

This is made from how it would have been made.

My grandparents wouldn't have been able to pop it in a water bath.

But this dish is humble, super humble.

Just get it in the pressure cooker and do it properly.

My dad was a head chef, my grandad was a head chef,

both in the officer's mess at the Army.

So there's more poignancy in this for me than there is for most,

I would imagine.

Michelin-starred Mark Poynton may be in the lead but veteran Marcus has

made it clear he needs to take risks if he wants the higher scores.

Mark, you're doing a lot more than

you have been doing for the fish course.

Looks like you've got every piece of equipment that we could

-have in this kitchen on your bench.

-Yeah. I listen to Marcus.

He thought I was playing it safe, so you know...

Show him what I can do.

Using more complicated cooking techniques

that Jason, Mark's attempting to extract every

bit of flavour from the ingredients in his dish, Operation Overlord.

He's making potato ribbons for his terrine,

giving carrots an aromatic make over with sugar and star anise

and using an unusual cut of beef,

a Glasgow fillet - which needs to be cooked slowly to tenderise it.

He's also slow-cooking the trimmings for his ragout.

Mark - you've got this Glasgow fillet - is that right?

That's Glasgow fillet, yeah.

Not something I've ever seen before.

It's a traditional casserole and mincing piece of beef

and I'm going to elevate it to a new level

and show people it's not all about sirloin steaks and fillets.

-Yeah!

-You know, it's not about this fancy stuff.

To discover more about forgotten cuts used in wartime Britain,

Mark visited Gog Magog Hills butchers near Cambridge...

Hi, Miles. Mark Poynton.

..where he met Miles Nicholas, a butcher whose grandfather

provided precious cuts of meat to restaurants during the War.

A lot of the fancier cuts that today weren't used.

-Was most of it minced?

-A lot was minced, a lot of stewing beef.

-Yeah.

The Glasgow fillet was traditionally used for braising

and it's high fat content meant that it was full of flavour.

My idea is to use it like a fillet steak.

But it comes off the stewing part of the animal.

-Will it need more cooking?

-It's going to need brining

and then cooking for about an hour and a half.

Just a lovely piece of meat there.

You can see why people would have done it.

-I mean, it looks like a steak.

-Yeah, it looks really nice.

Keen to find out what it took to rear cattle

during the hardships of wartime, Mark visited Bill Clark,

who helped out on his father's beef and arable farm from a young age.

-Mark Poynton. Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you, too.

So tell me a bit about the War - what it was like.

It was quite traumatic at times but with all the menfolk going

off to the War, us children had to do quite a bit on the farm.

I was eight years old and I was on the tractor,

going up and down, ploughing and things like that.

Had to help with the cattle and horses and carts, loading

sheaves of corn at the harvest time and helping -

all those sorts of jobs.

One of the things that I well remember was coming up to D-Day.

There was all these Army people are doing manoeuvres.

My dad got very angry at times

because they would crash through a hedge, let the cattle out.

We didn't know, of course,

what was going on and it was all preparation for D-Day.

How did the rationing effect you during the War?

It certainly did affect us and we grumbled a lot about it.

Farmers were rationed the same as everybody else during the War

and as food became ever scarcer, they had a lot to contend with.

Mark, what I've got here is a magazine of the farmers

of the war years and it's quite significant,

because it's giving us the April ration cut and this was what

was making us have to grow a lot more of our own, not just to

feed us, but to try and keep our cattle going and feed them as well.

It was so serious, there was talk of...

we'd got to kill all our dogs, and things like that.

-Cos you couldn't feed them?

-Because we hadn't got the food for them.

Trying to think what it was like for Bill living back then,

not even being able to eat his own food

and having to sell everything - it must have been crazy.

I think my mother would be quite satisfied with your cooking.

That's the highest praise.

It's all about the veterans for me, you know.

I want to thank them for the freedom

that we've got now which they didn't have back then.

So to get through to the final

and get to feed the ex-servicemen which is,

you know - there's no greater honour than doing that.

Mark is working hard to elevate his technical hotpot to banquet

standards and his traditional braising fillet has caught

-Marcus's eye.

-So why this?

So I'm going to be taking that forgotten cut to another level

-by pressure cooking it.

-How long?

25 minutes for a ragout and then we add it to this here.

-Carrot, onion, shallot.

-Right.

Add tomato puree, add a load of really nice red wine.

That's going to give you the richness of the dish,

-which you'd have in a hotpot.

-Yeah, yeah.

Then you're going to have a lovely cut of meat as well.

And the fillet being filleted?

It's going to be the Glasgow fillet, looking like a fillet.

The different methods that you're doing,

you're the one making it complicated.

I am making it complicated, yeah. I'm making a rod for my own back.

Mark's explained about the Glasgow fillet.

He's taking a very simple idea and making it very detailed

and complicated through different methods of cookery.

It could be a nice dish. The key is, is it a great dish?

Jason's moved on to the unusual element of his

mess tin of boiled beef and carrots main course. Carrot cake.

-Hey, how you doing?

-Yeah, not bad, chef, thanks.

I have this vision of cake and gravy.

OK, it's not going to be like cake and gravy.

If you imagine that you would have a potato cake that had a really

-nice, crispy crumb on the outside.

-Yeah.

-Slightly sweet.

If you think how maple-cured bacon or dry-cured bacon has a sweet...

Sweet element to it. I'm with you.

I really hope that Jason's carrot cake is not going to be too sweet.

I think the principle idea of the carrot cake can still work -

NOT if the recipe's got too much sugar in it.

-Is this carrot cake?

-Oui, Chef.

-For a savoury dish?

You two not busy? Have you not got stuff to concentrate on, or is yours

that easy, you can come over and have a chat?

Cos, you know, you know what you're like for timing!

-Beneath this, my legs are...

-Yeah, I can see, I can see!

I think it's a bit bizarre, you know.

Carrot cake, he's got spices it - ginger and all that sort of stuff.

And to put it with beef as a main course... That's... I'm dumbfounded.

Battling with Jason in joint second place, Aktar's pulling out

all the stops to impress Marcus with a prime cut of beef sirloin.

-Plan to be on time?

-I hope so.

I've taken a little bit out of the everything but I am pushing myself.

It is... You know, I've not come here for an easy ride.

Having been criticised for over-complicating his dishes,

Aktar has removed an element from his Dream Ration Box

but it still includes ox cheek cottage pie, vegetables,

beef sirloin, spiced Yorkshire puddings and sweetbreads,

for his take on a Sunday roast.

-How are you doing?

-I'm all right, chef. I'm good, I'm good.

-What are we doing?

-Just finishing off the marinade for the sweetbread.

-And this?

-It's for my Yorkshire pudding.

And I see you've got the see you've got the barbecue?

What I've got there, I've got the sirloin,

-that's going to be used just at the end to smoke it.

-OK.

So, what else is happening here?

OK, that's going to be part of the vegetables,

cabbage and onion sweated down with cumin and turmeric.

And then that's going to be part of the filling for the cottage pie.

So, going back to what we said yesterday about lots going on,

-I still see lots going on. A hell of a lot going on.

-Yes.

What about time?

I'm on time at the moment, but it's all about the last hurdle, isn't it?

OK. I'll let you crack on.

I'm worried about his dish on the basis

that I still think there's a lot going on.

You don't need to add another flavour

and another dish and another dish.

I know he's taken something away, but is it going to be enough?

First to plate up is Mark, with his dish, Operation Overlord.

His marinated Glasgow beef fillet has been in the water bath

for an hour to tenderise.

With time running out, he sears it, then leaves to rest.

Happy with the way it's cooked, mate?

It's absolutely perfect. I think it's a winner.

He begins his plate with fried bacon and potato tureen...

Adds aromatic carrots and potato cannelloni,

filled with prune puree...

..Then quenelles of beef ragout.

And the crowning glory, his Glasgow fillet.

Gently, gently.

-You look relieved!

-That was hard!

-What do you think, guys?

-Wonderful. Nice dish.

-Let's go.

Really interested in this cut, the Glasgow fillet.

Cooked at 65 for one hour.

Because it's that tough a cut of meat, it needs that.

And now you've eaten it, is there anyway you're thinking,

"Oh, I wish that was a little bit more tender, or...?"

That's still got texture. But it's got the lovely beef flavour.

And I wanted to show that, you know, even though it's a stewing steak,

treated with the right respect, why can't it be served pink?

-I think it's chewy.

-Every time you chew into it, you do get flavour.

-And that, for me, is not a negative.

-Is that carrot?

-It's carrot.

It's carrot cooked with star anise, butter, sugar.

A little bit of lemon juice right at the end.

-Good carrot.

-That's my hotpot potatoes.

-Hotpot potato with the bacon.

-Yeah.

The ragout, quite a lot of processes to go into that.

It's a lot of processes, but it's there to add richness to the dish

and show how versatile that piece of meat is.

-For me, it doesn't melt in the mouth.

-It's got a bit too much bite.

Potato cannelloni. Why the cannelloni, why have you done that?

It's there to hold the puree.

-Mmm. Nice and crunchy.

-Do you think you've taken enough risks?

I've done pretty much everything under the sun, cooking-wise, for me.

-I don't think I could take any more risks.

-OK.

-Here he is. OK, Chef?

-All right. I'm all right.

We were just saying, at the banquet,

would it be a bit too much bite for the older generation?

I don't think so.

-The only way to make it super tender is to braise it.

-OK.

And I wanted to show them a hotpot that's not been braised.

Cos that's something they wouldn't have had before.

-Next up is newcomer, Jason.

-What is he doing?

He's taking an unusual approach to his presentation.

-What are you doing?

-Erm, if you were in the army...

-Right...

You wouldn't have had a beautiful plate.

-You're not telling me I'm eating off this?

-Not off it.

-OK.

But you would have sat there and eaten out of a mess tin,

off your lap or on the grass. This is the real deal.

As long as there's no worms anywhere in it, which...

Well, I'll leave you to trim your lawn!

Yet to score highly, Jason's hoping his family-inspired mess tin

with ox tongue and cheeks, carrots and potatoes, will impress.

-All right, Jason? Five minutes to pass.

-No, I'll be all right, mate.

You're sweating a bit!

He shapes his turf into rectangles to form a base for his dish.

And instead of plates, uses mess tins.

He adds his pressure-cooked ox cheek, dots carrot puree,

and balances a nest of carrot crisps on top.

Diced ox tongue is next, followed by roasted carrots.

Finally, he adds the potato, bacon and carrot cake,

covered in the controversial carrot cake crumb

and tops it all off with horseradish cream cheese.

-Oh!

-Think I need that more than you!

HE LAUGHS

What is the beer?

It's called Old Bill's Great British Brew.

It's a similar beer to what they would have had at the time.

Old Bill was a character from the war, so it all ties it together.

OK, great. Well, let's go and try it, shall we?

Did you say about the beer that it was something that you'd chosen?

It's the sort of beer they would have had.

It's a lighter beer, it's not a heavy beer.

If that's how they used to drink beer during the war,

I'm glad I never got to experience it, cos it's not very nice.

-The tongue there.

-Mmm-hmm.

This is the tongue.

-Yeah, diced tongue.

-Bit bouncy.

The sweetness of the carrot cake, is that what you're looking for?

I think you do get a nice little bit of spice from it.

I don't think it's overly intrusive.

-I don't think it adds to the dish.

-I don't know.

It's not very interesting anyway.

It's funny, actually, holding this.

The whole noise of it.

I just can picture everyone sitting there like this, can't you?

I don't think this dish sits well on a beautiful, shiny copper pan.

Cheek, very tender. Very tender.

-Could do with a bit more...

-Seasoning.

Tell me about the cheek.

Because if you don't get that timing right, you have a big problem,

don't you, with this particular cut?

-Yeah, you would do.

-Yeah.

I get the story he's trying to tell.

You know, the mess tin and eating out in the field.

-The food, does that tell you a story?

-No.

I think that, for me, tells an absolute story. It's a full picture.

-Give me a mark?

-I would give it an eight.

-OK.

That's the main course done. Hard course, really hard course.

Generally, I think it was, you know, a good dish. I think I did OK.

Last up is former winner, Aktar, and his luxury dream ration box.

Despite simplifying his dish on Marcus's advice,

he still has plenty of complex elements to bring together.

-Chives, please.

-Feeling confident with this, Aktar?

I'm killing myself putting it together.

I hope it matters, it counts. I want it to count.

Aktar's got a surprise up his sleeve.

Like Jason, he's gone all out with his presentation,

serving his dish as a sharing platter in a giant dream ration box.

That's a bit grand! Do you think it's going to beat me?

I'd like to catch up with you!

Aktar places lightly curried vegetables

and puy lentils into pots...

..Puts the finishing touches to his ox cheek cottage pies...

..Plates up his sirloin steak and tandoori sweetbreads...

..And serves spiced gravy

and naan bread Yorkshire puddings on the side.

Smells wonderful. Wow.

I'm trying to imagine what you've taken away,

cos I can't imagine there being any more elements to this!

-Believe me, there was!

-You bring that. And let's go.

The cooking of the sirloin, do you think it's had enough resting?

I think so, Chef.

The juices are evenly distributed, I think that's fine.

I imagine he wanted that sirloin to melt in your mouth.

-Yeah, I agree.

-And it doesn't.

-No.

-So this is the...?

-Tandoori sweetbread.

I like that. I like the tandoori. I like the way it's cooked.

It's cooked perfectly.

Yorkshire puddings, shall we try it?

-I like it.

-And me.

And here we've got the cottage pie.

The cottage pie from the ox cheek is beautiful.

-Nice. Nice background spice in there.

-Yeah.

There's a little bit of spice running all the way through this dish.

Do you think it represents the occasion?

What I would say is, I'm sure there will be a lot of veterans

out there who were posted in various parts of the world.

A love of spice, it's something that we're known for worldwide.

I really like that vegetable garden, that's really nice.

-Dig in.

-Take a spoon, put it on your plate.

You think you've done enough?

I've killed myself, putting the plate up.

I need you to mark it for me.

I'd give it a seven or an eight.

OK, thank you.

Right. I'm absolutely shattered.

I'm hoping I go home today in second place, at least.

-At least?

-At least.

-- Wow.

-Hear that, Chef? At least.

-Hi, guys.

-Chef.

-I'm going to start with you, Mark.

For your Operation Overlord of beef and prune hotpot.

Technique, very good, I must say.

I thought the ragu was great, really good depth of flavour.

I really liked the idea, I liked the story again.

I've always liked your story, it's been great.

Glasgow fillet of beef,

risky.

It goes back to that texture, but I like the fact you took the risk.

-It really did have good flavour.

-Thank you.

My concerns...

I'm not 100% sure, Mark, that the diners will understand the cut.

The thing you mentioned during the eating was the texture

and I got that and I get that.

But from the visual point of view, it's got the lovely pinkness to it.

Are they going to think, wow, this beef's going to melt in the mouth?

Bit of reservation on that point.

You need to maybe think of a way you can tell the story

about that plate of food.

I think you're still playing it safe.

Maybe the risks were all taken in the preparation,

but it was a very simple-looking dish.

Is it good enough?

OK, Jason.

For your Mess Tin of boiled beef and carrots.

Eating out of the mess tin was good fun.

It almost feels real. You know, I feel like I'm there.

The ox-cheek was excellent.

I actually thought the tongue was excellent.

And now the potato-carrot cake.

I liked it.

-I thought you pulled it off, well done.

-Thanks, Chef.

But...

I thought the beer lacked a little bit of flavour.

The carrot crisps were nice. Don't really think you needed them.

Maybe some swede and carrots,

something really rustic in there that these guys can say,

"Yeah, I recognise that." Polish that dish off really well.

Last, but by no means least, Aktar.

You Dream Ration Box with sirloin, sweetbread and cottage pie.

I liked the sharing elements, that's nice.

I thought the sirloin was delicious.

The vegetable garden at the front, you got the curry flavours right.

You really did a good job with that.

Couple of points.

There's one more element you can take off that dish

and I think it actually is the sweetbread.

Don't think it needs it.

The Yorkshire pudding?

The pudding is there to sit and soak up gravy.

That's why it's called a pudding.

But if it's so dry, it will not absorb anything.

OK.

Mark.

I'm going to give you an eight, Mark.

Bit more risk.

Yeah.

Aktar.

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

..is an eight.

Jason.

I'm going to give you a nine.

-Really, really enjoyed that dish.

-Thank you.

It's the risk-taking today that has put you all in the order.

Any three of you guys can be going home tomorrow. Good night.

With three courses down, Mark holds on to his lead,

while Jason's impressive score sees him one point ahead of Aktar.

Good day.

Eight's a good, respectable score,

but I didn't really want to be playing catch-up with Jason.

Speechless.

Still ahead by two points, which is a good place to be,

but I can see the judges chamber in my sight.

I'm absolutely blown away.

Blown away. I'm so happy.

Tomorrow, it's dessert and the chefs' last chance for glory.

-Serious pressure on your end.

-I thrive on pressure, mate.

But with only two places in the judges chamber...

Please, please, please.

..who's valiant efforts will be rewarded?

Wow, you did push yourself, did you?

That really was blood, sweat, toil and tears, wasn't it?

Yeah.