Northern Ireland Fish Great British Menu

This week on Great British Menu,

three of Northern Ireland's finest...

It has to deliver, period.

..eager, young newcomer Will Brown...

Hopefully, no schoolboy errors today.

..Richard Corrigan's head chef Chris McGowan...

Catch me if you can.

..and last year's Northern Ireland winner Raymond McArdle...

I got really close to getting to the banquet last year

-and I can nearly taste it.

-..are fighting it out...

I need a ten.

..for the honour of saying thank you to our World War II

veterans at a banquet commemorating the 70th anniversary of D-Day

to be held at the magnificent St Paul's Cathedral.

Yesterday, Raymond shot out in front...

You nailed it, it was spot on.

..leaving his competitors trailing in his wake.

It wasn't much better than supermarket quality.

Today, the battle is for the fish course...

If I get a five on this fish here,

I'll be in big trouble.

-..and young head chef Will...

-BLEEP!

..is going all-out to regain ground...

Excuse me. It's not on properly anyway.

..but will it all go up in smoke?

This year, the chefs are paying tribute to the brave heroes

who fought for our freedom on the beaches of Normandy 70 years ago.

They've been challenged to produce patriotic dishes that evoke

the spirit of wartime Britain...

Look at this.

..and have been inspired by people in their communities

who experienced this momentous period of history first-hand.

Well, a lot of them went away to the war, the fishermen.

My father was in the Home Guard.

Judging them all week is two-Michelin-starred

and twice banquet main course champion Tom Kerridge.

-How are we doing, chefs? ALL:

-Morning.

-Are we OK?

-Yeah.

-And yourself, Will?

-Yeah, I'm looking forward to today.

Can't wait to get started.

-Learned from your mistakes?

-I have indeed.

I'm just looking forward to putting them right today.

So, it's fish course.

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

so I've asked a great mentor and a great friend to come

and help me with this.

Tom's brother-in-arms is a fellow two-Michelin-star-decorated chef

who's known for not taking any prisoners.

Marcus Wareing.

Well, thank you for inviting me.

-Ray, I heard you had a good day yesterday.

-I had a good day.

-Yeah?

And the rumour was that you two had a bit of a tougher day.

Yeah, we did.

It's a pleasure to be here

and I'm really looking forward to your dishes.

-Good luck. ALL:

-Thank you.

Tough one there. The toughest judge we could get is Marcus Wareing.

It needs to be absolute perfection for this man.

If it's not...the dream is over.

First up is last year's Northern Ireland winner Raymond McArdle

who managed a strong eight points with his starter.

He knows from experience that he must maintain his lead.

Last year, I got an average score for my fish and it brought me

back down to Earth very quickly after a really good

score in the starter so I'm determined not to let that

happen this year and I'm just really determined to keep the scores going.

-Hello there, Ray.

-Morning.

-What's your dish? Name it.

It's Memories Of Normandy.

You know, to really fit into the brief,

I went to all the sights in Normandy

and I wanted to bring something back and create

something from there married with some British ingredients.

I'm doing halibut.

OK, there's the halibut.

-So, how many portions are you going to get out of that?

-Three.

One for me, one for you, one for Chef Marcus?

-Correct.

-OK.

What else are we doing with it?

I'm braising ham in Normandy cider, dressing of apple, celery

and tapioca and then I'm going to do a camembert cheese sauce.

Are you a camembert fan, chef?

Not with fish.

-It's OK, Chef, we've got a reblochon here as well.

-Oh, even better.

-Big, powerful cheese?

-Yeah, I thought the halibut could stand up to it.

Fish and cheese is a very difficult thing.

I mean yesterday was a great score so we need that to continue today.

-Good luck with that.

-Thank you, chef.

Memories Of Normandy.

There's some great flavours there, the apples, the cider,

the ham, the cheese, and then he puts it with fish.

The cheese is the big Achilles heel there for me. Could it work?

It's not a classic combination that I've come across much before

so he'll have to get the balance of this dish right.

Next up is Richard Corrigan's head chef Chris McGowan with more

than 20 years' experience on the London restaurant scene.

His menu is based around wartime slogans but he failed to meet

the brief with his starter, putting him second on just five points.

Yesterday was yesterday.

I really want to push on and make it happen today.

-There we go. How are we doing, Chris?

-I'm good.

-OK, what's the name of your dish?

-This is Captains Of Our Soles.

It's an old Winston Churchill saying,

it was one of his slogans during the war.

It's a play on words, obviously,

I've used soles as in Dover sole which is going to be butter-poached.

-What else have we got in here?

-We have horseradish, long neck clams.

There's not too many ingredients in this box,

trying to keep it quite simple like the first course?

My style of food is about clarity of flavours.

These are luxury, fantastic, British ingredients.

The veterans, you know, you want to spoil these people.

I've just got to nail it now.

OK then, Ray. Got you scared? Got you nervous?

-Well, I expect him to come out fighting.

-Edging his way back.

-Mm.

So, Chris' dish, We Are Captains Of Our Soles.

He's got great ingredients.

I'm very interested to see what the clams are all about.

But he really needs to step up his game today

and make sure he fits the brief.

Last up is determined,

young newcomer Will Brown whose overcomplicated starter

and schoolboy errors put him in last place with a score of four points.

I have to do better than my starter course.

There's no two ways about it. I have to achieve on this fish course.

-How are we doing, young Will?

-Great, thanks, chef.

-What's the name of your dish?

-It is Smoke On The Shore.

It's a vision of what it might have been like on the beaches in them

-days.

-The Normandy invasion you mean?

-Yeah, I'm making sand for the beach.

-Sand for the beach?

-Uh-huh.

We have had a seashore dish come up to Great British Menu in this

kitchen before.

Two years ago,

Johnnie Mountain served Marcus a seashore-themed dish...

MAN COUGHS

..that famously failed spectacularly

-and on receiving a score of only two points...

-BLEEP.

..was the first contestant ever to leave the competition halfway.

Does that make you a little nervous?

It does indeed but hopefully this will be a lot better than that one.

The main element is the mackerel.

I'm taking both fillets and putting some ham inside.

-And then some...?

-Clams.

-Some clams and some cockles.

-Yes.

We've got some langoustines and then some mussels.

-Some mussels for the sauce.

-It's quite a lot of ingredients here.

Yeah, it looks a lot but when you see it on the plate,

it really isn't. A lot of this is going into the flavour in the sauce.

Any thoughts, Mr Wareing?

Don't you just love youth?

THEY LAUGH

-Youthful enthusiasm.

-Yeah.

Smoke On The Shore.

I love mackerel, the issue is it's a beach scene, chef.

Am I speechless? I'm not sure.

Nervous? Yeah. A lot going on.

I hope he can stay focused on the ingredients and cook well.

Battle has commenced in the kitchen and the chefs are still

reeling from the news of being judged by a second veteran.

I think if any of us are going to get a dish through to the

banquet, we're going to have to be judged by people

who are at the top of their game and Marcus Wareing

is at the top of his game and has been for a number of years.

Definitely no schoolboy errors today, Will.

-Well, hopefully no schoolboy errors today.

-He'll cane you.

-He will.

I have to worry about a few flavours.

You have to worry about a bit of sand.

For me, it was about honouring the people that went away for us.

Yeah, and for me,

it's about showing what we can do with what they fought for.

So, Raymond, what was your fish dish last year?

William, would you believe it or not, it was a beach scene.

It absolutely bombed. It got five.

So, do you think you'll get a five, William?

If I get a five on this dish here, I'll be in big trouble.

I need a ten.

Am I worried about Marcus' comments?

I think anybody would be but it would be some achievement

if you could change his mind, wouldn't it?

Like yesterday, eager newcomer Will is the busiest chef in the kitchen.

He has four different types of seafood going into his

Smoke On The Shore mackerel fish course,

representing the success of D-Day.

-How you doing?

-Yeah, doing great. Pushing on.

The sand, I'm sure you're glad to know, there's not

-a lot of it on the plate.

-What's in here?

-Smoke oil, kombu, breadcrumbs.

OK. And the presentation?

This is the board that I'm going to be plating up on.

-Inside the box, we just have a tray.

-OK. The dry ice is in here?

The dry ice is in here. This goes on here like this.

-The smoke comes through these three holes.

-Create a dish.

Lots to do, you've got a lot on.

It seems like a lot going on but, really,

it's concentrating on the flavour of the sauce.

Quite interesting talking to Will.

For me, he looks like a rabbit in headlights.

-Have you really thought about this?

-Yeah, I've thought about this.

I think so, yeah.

The dish does concern me, the presentation concerns me.

It's quite gimmicky, no real substance to the whole thing.

It seems all bitty.

Will's not the only one taking a risk today.

Returning finalist Raymond is marrying halibut with

Normandy ingredients including a pungent camembert

and reblochon cheese sauce that has already made the veterans sceptical.

-Hello there, Ray. So, this is the cheese sauce?

-Yeah.

-Can I have a little try?

-You can.

You're not worried that's too cloying or too powerful a flavour?

I scaled it back in my practice sessions.

At the very start, it was like boom, you know, cheese.

I think it's a nice compliment for the ham that was

cooked in the Normandy cider and the vinaigrette with a Normandy vinegar.

OK.

That cheese sauce is very powerful but in texture, in density,

it's quite light, it's all about flavour.

I hope he gets this right.

Too much of that sauce will completely overkill the fish.

Chasing Raymond's tail by three points is experienced head

chef Chris who missed the brief yesterday.

He's sticking to British ingredients,

serving sea vegetables and rare long neck clams,

alongside the English Channel classic, Dover sole.

-How you doing, Chris? What have we got?

-So, this is the brown butter.

The fish is going to be cooked in there.

I've just added a little bit of horseradish to it now,

a little bit of lemon and seasoning.

These are the long neck clams

so these have been cooked at 35 degrees

so what I want to do now is just open it and release the juice

and let the juice drop into the poaching liquor.

Do you think you captured the brief here?

Are you going to bring these guys back to something that they

may remember or they'll all feel a bit nostalgic about?

I suppose there's not anything tangible on the dish that

says 1940s Normandy but these ingredients are British

ingredients which these people fought for.

I really like the sound of Chris' dish.

Chris' is the one that could be suitable to the veterans more

than any of the others because it's very straightforward,

very simple and ingredients that they'll probably

recognise when they see it on the plate.

While Richard Corrigan's protege Chris is now London-based,

both his competitors cook on the Northern Ireland coast.

Chris, see where I am, I'm totally spoiled.

I mean out the door of our restaurant, we're on the beach.

I love to get the fish course cos see back home, I am spoiled.

I'm just on the shore at Strangford Lough and there's everything.

Everything you could ever dream of so it'd be an honour to get

the fish course.

Will lives down the coast from the village of Ardglass where

fishing has been the main industry for the last 200 years.

Its heyday was the years leading up to World War II when it all

took a turn for the worse as historian Michael Howland explains.

This place would have been full of boats coming from all over the UK.

-I would have loved to have seen it.

-Oh, it's very impressive.

And then once the war came in, the numbers in the fleet starting

dropping cos they were going away to naval duty.

All over the North Sea, different places helping the Admiralty.

With fishing boats called on to help the war effort, there was

a substantial drop in the amount of fish

coming into Ardglass as 87-year-old local resident Hilda recalls.

-There wasn't very much in Ardglass at that time.

-Yeah.

Well, a lot of them went away to the war, the fishermen.

My father was in the Home Guard.

Nobody had any money then, not very much.

And then when the war ended, did it come back to normal

straightaway or did it take it time to get back to good days?

It took a time to get the fish back again and it was much better then.

Well, I hope to do my fish course justice

and do the Ardglass harbour justice by cooking a stunning dish.

Will's hoping the mackerel element of his Smoke On The Shore

fish dish will bring back happy memories for Hilda.

So, here we have a little bit of the fresh mackerel with a little

salad just for you to taste.

I hope you enjoy it.

What's the verdict?

Gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous.

-Hilda, that's exactly what I wanted to hear.

-Mm.

I'm totally determined to do the fish course justice.

Meeting a lovely lady like Hilda has just made my day

and I cannot wait to get started.

With plating up fast approaching, Will is testing out

the smoke for his mackerel and shellfish fish course.

How's that looking?

Yeah, it's looking great but it's whether the judge likes it or not,

you know, so let's just hope the food matches what that looks like.

-Well, I did sand. Can I taste your sand?

-Of course you can, Raymond.

It's quite smoky. It is very smoky.

I just worry for Will a wee bit

because the rest of the dish looks great, the presentation looks great.

I hope he pulls this one off and doesn't put too much on it.

I got really close to getting to the banquet last year and I can nearly taste it.

Like I scored a perfect ten and still didn't get to the banquet.

Do you know what that's like? It's soul destroying.

-Ten's going to be difficult today.

-From Marcus Wareing?

It's going to be impossible, fellas.

He gave out two tens in the history of this competition.

-Well, we're up against it today then.

-Yeah.

Ham, cheese, tapioca, apple and celery dressing.

He's either going to love it or hate it.

-It's your big chance today.

-Whose chance? My chance?

-Your big chance to catch me.

-Catch me if you can.

Under the watchful eyes of the two Michelin-starred veterans,

London-based Chris is first to plate up.

It has to deliver, period.

He's got three points to gain on returning finalist Raymond,

and starts his plate with spinach and sea vegetable puree,

then adds his butter-poached Dover sole.

I'm expecting to turn it around today.

These flavours are really simple flavours. When cooking fish,

the complication is cooking it properly.

Next, his unusual long-neck clams.

A croquette made from bechamel sauce and clam meat,

and finally he garnishes the plate with more sea vegetables

and long-neck clams in horseradish butter.

Do you think this dish is a worthy dish for heroes, Chris?

-I would be happy to come home for that.

-You, boys, what do you think?

-It looks fantastic, yes.

-Shall we go and taste it?

-More like shall I watch you and Marcus taste it?

-I think... Yeah.

I'll be your waiter.

You guys, crack on with that one.

Captains Of Our Soles.

Winston Churchill said it in a speech once during the war.

Looks beautiful. Very clean, fresh, vibrant.

-So the cooking of the fish?

-I deliberately butter poached it,

trying to add moisture rather than drawing it out of it.

It is a wee bit undercooked, you know.

There's not a lot of components to that. To me it's about marrying those flavours together.

Yes, very nice. Very tasty. It accompanies the fish very well.

The veterans at the banquet, do you think they're going to enjoy this?

It's quintessentially British on a plate. They'll love that.

I don't think it's got anything to do with Normandy and D-day.

It's a taste of the sea. I like it.

If you were Marcus, what score out of ten would you give that?

I need a ten, because if Raymond comes out and knocks it out of the park,

then we're all in big trouble. I need as high a score as possible.

I'd give it an eight or nine. It's a great dish.

-If I was to score this dish, I'd give it a six.

-OK.

-All right, boys.

-All right.

-How did you get on?

-I hope very well.

-They're tough cookies, you know.

-Yes.

-Marcus was complete poker face.

-Give anything away?

-Absolutely nothing.

Eager newcomer Will is up next

and out to prove his worth against his more experienced rival chefs.

He needs his elaborate Smoke On The Shore mackerel dish to impress after yesterday's disaster.

-Is that your sand?

-Yes, it's my smoked sand. It's not too strong.

As long as it doesn't overthrow the dish.

It doesn't overthrow the dish. I know Mr Wareing so I think I'll be OK.

But Will has plenty of other ingredients to worry about.

His mackerel isn't ready until he's pan-fried it with a brioche crust.

-How are you on time, Will?

-Probably about three minutes away.

Three minutes later, there's still no end in sight.

BLEEP!

-How are we getting on, Will?

-One minute, please.

-That's been a minute, Will.

-Yes, sorry about that.

Finally Will puts his mackerel onto his edible sand.

How are we doing? That's been another minute, chief. Come on, be honest.

-Is it going to be two or three? Let us all know.

-One minute, please.

Will adds poached langoustine,

cockles,

sea vegetables,

and finally a shellfish foam,

before getting the drama ready for his sandy shore.

-Excuse me.

-It's not on properly.

OK, Chef, so we have Smoke On The Shore.

-That's it on now.

-Certainly got visual impact, hasn't it, Chef?

Trying to use different techniques,

trying to produce good food with a little bit of theatre on the side.

Well, this looks like a valiant effort to me.

I'll carry it through and you and Chef Marcus can try it

and you two boys can push on with that one. Come on, chaps.

-It was a little bit late coming up to the pass.

-Indeed.

Completing that for a banquet, do you think you can do it?

For the banquet I'd be able to do it, yes.

Would you do that for a banquet?

If I was a bit crazy.

-Does it tell a story of D-day?

-I think so, yes.

I'm sure it was an absolute nightmare

when they were attacking the beaches, you know.

It adds a wee bit of theatre.

He's talking about D-day landings. It was just mayhem. I get all that.

Is the sand what you were looking for?

That's exactly the amount that I wanted.

-Do you like the sand?

-It's not unpleasant. Not urgh.

-The cooking of the fish, is that what you are looking for?

-Pretty much, yes.

The mackerel seemed quite fiddly and he broke the structure of the fish.

Sometimes a step too far with food is what can damage a dish.

-Was that in your head?

-It was in my head

but really, if you think about it, it's quite a simple dish.

Just cockles, muscles, prawns.

Do you think he's learned from his lesson on the first course?

-There's quite a bit going on there.

-I don't think he's learned.

I think his menu is his menu and his style of food. I think that's Will.

So would you say where there's a Will there's a way?

-All right, guys?

-How did it go?

-Giving nothing away again.

-After the scores yesterday, I'd like to see an improvement on that.

-Yeah.

We just need to wait and see.

Finally, it's last year's Northern Ireland winner

and current leader Raymond with his Memories Of Normandy dish

of halibut, braised ham and French cheese sauce.

-Do you think you'll equal your last score?

-I don't know.

-I would like something in around that.

-Yes.

He starts his plate with ham braised in Normandy cider.

Next on is his pan-fried halibut,

which he tops with an apple and celery tapioca dressing.

Feeling confident, Raymond?

Yes, I've kept it nice and clean and simple.

Finally he adds caviar

and finishes the plate with his controversial French cheese sauce.

Memories Of Normandy. Is it going to be a gastronomic victory?

-I certainly hope so.

-What do you make of it, boys?

-Looks beautiful.

-Looks lovely and fresh.

-OK.

So me and Chef Marcus and yourself will go round and taste this.

You boys can get on with that one.

How does this dish pay homage to Britain's culinary journey?

Our troops when they hit Normandy came across cheese and ham

and the locals gave them cider on the way up the road.

They'll be used to those ingredients.

Everything on this plate, he went to Normandy and he brought the ideas back.

As you know, we were a little concerned about how powerful that cheese could be.

-Do you think it works?

-I think it does.

Either it needs a bit more sauce or it needs to be stronger for me.

-Tell me what you've done with the ham.

-I braised it in the cider

and then shredded it down and cooked it down in its juice.

-The ham is really meaty.

-Halibut is quite a meaty fish.

-Exactly.

I think there is too much of the ham on the plate.

The celery garnish, do you think the flavour of that comes through enough?

Yes, because there's celery in the dressing with the apple.

What flavour is that? Apple?

It must be apple.

-And a score out of ten, what would you give it?

-Ten.

-Seven.

-We need it to be less than that.

-I know.

-What would you go for?

-I think a six.

-How was that?

-They seemed happy.

-Think it's a good score?

I don't know. I wouldn't like to say.

Yep.

Before Tom can give scores, he must consult with Marcus.

I think the execution was something that needed to be taken into consideration.

-Tough day.

-Tough day today.

-Tough two days.

There were so many different things going on there that really didn't need to be there.

I really hope I maintain my lead even by one point.

Well, we need points, we need to get our points back here.

How are we doing, Chefs?

-How did it feel being judged by the great Marcus Wareing?

-Fantastic.

Phenomenal.

OK. I'll start with you, Chris and your We Are Captains Of Our Soles.

I thought it was a real respect to British ingredients

and I could see that going onto a D-day banquet

specially for those veterans and to make them proud.

The clams were tender, the croquette was excellent.

Marcus said he could have eaten a whole bowlful of them.

But...

The puree on the plate, wasn't sure it was smooth enough.

I love Dover sole but I love it being cooked on the bone.

Will, for your Smoke On The Shore,

the idea of it representing a Normandy beach,

I could see where you were going with that.

Marcus pointed out to me that the sand,

he was a little worried about that at the start

but he thinks you've got away with it.

However, I thought you struggled for service here.

To represent that dish at a banquet I think you'd find very hard.

I think you're still doing too much on the plate.

Some of the flavours didn't work.

Worst of all for me, the mackerel was overcooked.

Raymond, your Memories Of Normandy, I thought it was a great idea.

The fish tasted good, the style of cooking was fantastic.

I was worried that the French cheese would be too powerful

but actually that sauce was really well-balanced.

However, some of the flavours didn't work.

The ham overpowered things for me.

The garnish on the top I think was a little bit pointless.

Chris, for your We Are Captains Of Our Soles, I am giving you...

..eight points.

Raymond, for your Memories Of Normandy, I am giving you...

..six points.

Will, for Your Smoke On The Shore I'm giving you...

Four points.

-If you'd kept it simple, that score would be much, much higher.

-OK.

Tomorrow's main course day. Let's get some nines and tens, boys.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

With two courses down, Chris is just one point behind Raymond

while Will has a lot of ground to make up.

I'm really, really, really ecstatic about the score.

-Tide turned.

-Not sure it's turned yet.

Getting a six was mixed emotions.

It keeps me still in the running, could have been better.

-Ready to fight another day?

-Yes.

Obviously I'm very disappointed with my first two dishes

but there's still two to play and I honestly feel I can pull it back.

Tomorrow it's the main course

and Raymond is going all out to maintain his lead.

I've got lots of little elements in it and I really need to pull them all together.

But will the heat of the battle get to last year's regional champion?

Where's all my pickle gear?

Where did you put my casserole?

He's left it out. Yes, he has.