London and South East Fish Great British Menu

This week on Great British Menu,

three of London and the southeast's top chefs...

..seasoned pro, Adam Byatt...

Is there another generation that deserves more gratitude

and more celebration?

..Michelin-starred, talented newcomer, Tom Sellers...

This is a really, real distraction right now.

..and returning contender, Adam Simmonds...

To get a dish to this banquet would be an amazing feat.

..are going head-to-head...

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

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

at London's incredible St Paul's Cathedral.

Yesterday's starters all scored highly.

But, it was Adam Simmonds

who put the mistakes of last year

behind him, and nailed the brief.

I'm giving you...a nine.

Today, with Adam Byatt

and ex-protege Tom just one point behind,

they're going all out for the fish course.

-This is

-BLEEP.

It's going to fall apart.

But Adams Simmonds is gunning for more glory.

Do you want a lesson? Cos I can give you one.

What, on how to burn stuff?

Yeah, I'll take it later.

I'm a bit busy.

This year, the chefs are paying tribute to our soldiers

who bravely fought on the beaches of Normandy 70 years ago,

and the generation whose efforts ensured our freedom.

They've delved deep into the history books to produce

patriotic dishes that tell a story on a plate...

-Does it make you proud to be British?

-Yeah.

It makes me proud to serve that and proud to be British.

It's a photograph.

..and taken inspiration from their own families'

experiences of the war.

Not knowing whether you were going to wake up in the morning,

that was the worst thing for me.

Judging them this week is Great British Menu's

most victorious veteran, Richard Corrigan,

a previous fish course winner who knows what he's looking for.

You know, I've really high expectations

for these fish dishes today.

You know, I love my fish,

but you want to be really careful when you're cooking it.

It takes real precision,

real finesse to get that fish just perfect.

I'm ahead by one point and I need to...

..I need to be on the top form in order to stay ahead of you guys.

If it was evenly matched,

the accuracy of the cooking of the fish

can separate people really quickly.

Agreed.

Is someone going to fall down here? Possibly.

-I just hope it's not me.

-I hope it's not me as well.

It's not going to be me, boys.

First up is returning chef Adam Simmonds.

He impressed with his presentation and cooking yesterday,

and is determined to increase his lead over his rivals today.

Battle plan for the fish is just to do exactly what I did

in the starter and hopefully nail it.

I have to keep getting the nines

because the two boys are creeping up.

Hello, Richard.

So what's the title of your dish?

-Silver Darlings.

-Silver Darlings?

-Yeah.

Herrings are known as the Silver Darlings of Ration Book Britain.

And of course, herring wasn't on ration books.

So, the herring is going to be in three ways -

pickle, pate and tartar.

That's then going to be served with a charcoal mayonnaise.

So, the charcoal's infused into the oil.

It's very subtle, but it's got that earthiness to it

against the oiliness of the fish.

Then, there's the horseradish snow,

a leafy gelatine,

and then liquid nitrogen.

-You got a nine yesterday.

-Yep.

Do you think you're going to score similar with this?

Providing I get that balance right,

I can score very highly on this course.

I think Adam Simmonds has

hit the brief with these herrings.

And it's something that

would have been found in the 1940s.

It all sounded great

till he mentioned the charcoal.

That really needs to be dealt with very, very finely indeed,

cos it could be a complete disaster.

Next, experienced pro, Adam Byatt.

His starter, inspired by his nan's wartime-inspired stories,

left him in joint second place.

But, he's planning to pull away from ex-employee Tom

with a winning fish dish.

I think the concept of the dish is strong

with the link to the brief.

It's really important that this course, I do shine.

I intend to leave today in front of the boys.

-Hiya, Richard.

-Adam.

-How are you?

-Yeah, I'm OK.

I think getting the first one out of the way was good,

get a little understanding of your opponents.

Which is always worrying, what they're up to.

What's the title of your dish?

Following the theme on from yesterday's By Air,

we are now 'By Sea'.

This dish is a take on

turbot a la normande.

We're going to salt bake the whole turbot.

Salt baked?

But, to bring it into the brief,

we're going to use beach sand,

not just salt.

It's hugely representative of the beach landings.

We've got a fricassee of all this beautiful English shellfish.

It's a turbot and shellfish.

-That's...

-But in the classical normande style...

We're going to make some squid ink pearls as well.

And that, Richard, is pretty much it.

Finish with a few beautiful wild beach herbs...

You're behind on a score of eight.

Do you think you can pull something back?

I mean, if that comes over-cooked on the judging counter, you're...

End of story.

Adam Byatt's sand-baked turbot

is not something

we see every day in any kitchen.

It could easily be undercooked,

it could so easily be overcooked.

Wow. That's a risky dish.

Last up is determined first-timer, Tom Sellers,

who lost points yesterday for over-complicating his starter.

He's keen to get one up on his old mentor, Adam Byatt,

so wants to score higher today with a complex fish course.

New day, new dish.

I've got to focus on what I'm doing,

cook the food that I know that I can cook,

and hopefully, you know, that will be reflected in the scores.

-How you doing?

-Very well.

-What's the title of your dish?

-Taste Of Normandy, Richard.

Talk to me about it.

I wanted to celebrate everything that Normandy does so well, so

I'm going to do turbot.

Phwoar.

The queen of the ocean.

Look at the size of that.

That's a proper big fish, yeah.

So, I'm just going to take it off the bone,

roast it...

It's going to be served with oysters.

So what about the rest of the ingredients?

Going to make a burnt apple puree.

So, essentially, just going to burn the apples

with a little bit of vanilla.

Celeriac, going to cook, get it really dark, really caramelised.

-Yes.

-Going to make a mayonnaise with oysters

and replacing the egg with oyster.

What did you stabilise the oyster and the oil with?

-Nothing.

-Nothing?

Just hands, and eyes, and temperature, hopefully.

Tom Sellers' dish, the turbot

is it really going to be

a little bit too much going on?

Celeriac, burnt apple, sauce,

oysters, garnish.

I mean, I hope Tom listened to

what I did say about less is more.

With only one point separating the chefs,

talented newcomer Tom

is focusing with another Winston Churchill quote.

So, boys. I got the second quote for the second day.

To get a dish to this banquet would be an amazing feat.

Is there another generation that deserves more gratitude

and more celebration?

Second timer Adam Simmonds impressed yesterday with bold flavours

and attention to detail.

He's out to do even better with his herring dish,

starting by whisking eggs and charcoal oil

for his unusual charcoal mayonnaise.

Combining risky flavours and cooking techniques

paid off with his starter.

And he's hoping for a high score from veteran Richard today.

-You do push the boundaries, don't you? Unusual.

-Yeah.

It's good to be unusual from time to time.

Adams using liquid nitrogen to prepare horseradish snow.

-What's that supposed to taste of?

-Horseradish.

There's a little bit of a kick at the end.

Oh, yeah.

It's gone all funny

and it doesn't have the same flavour as fresh horseradish,

so therefore, I ask myself,

"Hey, is that another little element a bit too far?"

But, it's all in the eating.

Adam knows he has to capitalise on his narrow lead.

His rivals are fiercely competitive,

and determined to bridge the one-point gap,

despite knowing each other outside the kitchen.

How are you two getting on?

I'm surprised you're not helping each other a bit more.

-TOM LAUGHS

-You know, same ideas.

Don't let your head run away with that nine you scored.

The competition is intensified as they're both cooking with

the same fish - turbot.

Theirs is very similar

and I think the only difference is some of the garnish.

Both turbot, both shellfish, both got a cream, slightly creamy sauce.

It's got a strong dish there. It's a good plate of food.

But this one's better.

For his turbot, Adam Byatt

is baking the fish

and serving with a stew of shellfish in a classic white wine sauce.

He's steamed the muscles and razor clams,

which he's adding to cooked shallots, garlic, thyme and butter.

Adam is combining his classic cooking with modern techniques,

making bowls of liquid squid ink,

a style of cooking veteran Richard isn't always keen on.

You just drop it into frozen oil and as it sort of hits the oil,

it sinks and...

..drops down and creates little balls.

So, it's almost like a...a squid-y, caviar-y thing.

Yeah, kind of, but firmer and should add little bursts of sea water.

I was really surprised how good Adam's squid ink pearls are doing.

I mean, that could be, really, the touch that makes the dish

good to grace.

Working on his turbot dish is talented newcomer Tom Sellers

portioning up his fish.

Yesterday, Richard criticised Tom for over-complicating

his vegetable starter.

Today, his dish, again, has many flavour profiles,

including oysters blitzed with oil

and roast fish bone sauce.

Seasoned pro Adam Byatt is mixing together sand, salt and egg whites

to make the beach-inspired crust for his turbot.

He's drawing on personal stories to give his food an added edge.

So, boys, some inspiration for the menu and the competition,

I went across to see my nan and

learnt a little bit about my grandad.

And I've brought along some photos.

-That's my grandad cooking in the armouries.

-Wow.

My nan told me a lot about him that I'd never heard before, actually.

So that's my inspiration for today.

Adam's overall menu has been inspired by his own family's

stories of the war.

He's visiting his nan Rose to find out more about his grandad's

role in World War II.

I want to understand much more about my grandad, who passed away

when I was a really young baby.

And I'm aware that he was in the army and stuff,

but I don't know to what extent,

and I want to sort of understand that a bit more from my nan.

-Hello.

-Hello, my love.

-How are you?

Grandad passed away when I was 18 months, two years old.

I never really met him.

And, he was a cook in the British Army, is that right?

He'd started when he went to Egypt.

-Looks like a boy, eh? He looks so young.

-Oh, he is.

-And he definitely had a passion for cooking.

-Yeah.

And he always wanted to open a small restaurant with family.

He wanted the family all be part of it.

But, like Grandad's dreams, they never came true.

It never happened.

-What age was he when he died?

-He was 52.

He was very young.

That's really interesting, the restaurant thing.

Maybe I've just carried that legacy on and done that.

Adam, he would be over the moon.

Adam's hoping that the legacy of his grandfather's time

cooking in the war, and his passion for food,

will translate into a winning fish course.

Who better to critique his turbot dish than fish-loving Rose.

Beautiful little champagne sauce.

-There.

-That's lovely.

I think Grandad would have been blown away.

Give you a gold star.

I've seriously learnt a lot today about my family's involvement

in the war, sort of brings it home

and reassures me, I guess,

that that's what I was destined to do.

And it's given me more confidence for the turbot dish,

that's for sure.

With victory in mind,

Adam is covering his turbot

in his unusual and fiddly

sand crust.

What is it? Just water?

Egg white.

Beach sand, salt and egg white.

All comes off after.

It's too crumbly. You can't serve it.

The turbot is baked in the oven.

And the sand crust seals the fish inside, so it steams as it cooks.

Using sand, cooking the turbot in an oven that he doesn't know,

could be quite costly for him.

Tom, on the other hand, he's just pan frying his.

But then he has a lot of burnt elements that could, you know,

overpower the fish and the rest of the garnish.

So, it'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

Returning contender Adam Simmonds

still has a lot to do for his complicated Silver Darlings dish.

He's working on the herring tartare and pate.

Also juggling many elements for his Taste Of Normandy dish

is Tom Sellers.

He's finishing his fish sauce with cream and Normandy cider.

Well, so what's going on here? I can smell burning.

-No, you're mad.

-Look, it's sticking to the bottom, chef.

-It's lovely, man. That's what I need.

-Is it supposed to...?

-And then the glaze with cider.

-You sure?

-Yeah, yeah.

Do you want a lesson? Cos I can give you one.

-What, on how to burn stuff?

-No, no.

-Yeah, I'll take it later.

I'm a bit busy.

To add to the smoky flavour, Tom's also burning slices of celeriac,

and the smell hasn't escaped veteran Richard.

-They look well-charred, don't they?

-Yeah.

-That's what you want?

-Yeah.

Exactly what I want. Then it just needs to be seasoned up.

A bit of rapeseed oil for the grassiness.

But I really like that contrast.

I think celeriac is one of the very few vegetables

that this works very well with.

Tom Sellers' charred celeriac.

For most people looking at this, you're going to say, "It's burnt!"

Well, it might be, but it tastes good.

As well as burnt celeriac, Tom's making a burnt Apple puree,

which he learned from another ex-mentor, Tom Aikens.

As a past Great British Menu winner,

Tom knows how tough the kitchen is.

And, he's making a surprise visit to see how his former employee

is getting on.

-What the

-BLEEP?!

-How's it going?

-Yeah, good.

Getting there?

-I hope you're...

-This is a really, real distraction right now.

And, Tom, one of your dishes, did I hear it's got a...

..a flavour of Aikens on it.

-Which one's that, Chef?

-Burnt apple puree.

Maybe, Chef, yeah.

-Yeah?

-I learnt from the best.

-Exactly.

Tom Aikens made it all the way to the banquet last year

with his chicken starter,

beating Adam Simmonds in the process.

Trying to put me off from counting.

-HE LAUGHS

-You are, aren't you

Are you sure you got four there? Don't you need five, Tom?

Shut up.

-I hear it was close yesterday.

-Yeah, really close.

-And I hear, Adam, you did a consomme.

-That's correct.

Copying me again, are you?

-Well, no, well...

-I did chicken consomme last year.

Got me all the way through to the banquet.

Well, I wish you all the best of luck.

And may the best man win.

-Thanks, Tom.

-All right. So, good luck.

My God, it's seriously tense in there.

I mean, you can cut the atmosphere with a knife.

I tell you what, I kind of miss it.

Adam Simmonds is first to plate up

and determined to make amends for last year.

His starter was praised for his interpretation of the brief,

and he's gone all out again with a specially made plate -

depicting London during the war.

Again, carried on from where he left off for presentation.

You know, he's given it a lot of thought.

You know, you just have to hope that the fish stands up to

the presentation.

First on the dish are slices of herring pate

rolled in cucumber jelly,

the risky charcoal mayo, pickled cucumber and baby potatoes.

He scatters pieces of herring tartare,

and blowtorches his pickled herring

to crisp the skin

before placing across the top.

It's a pretty small portion, Adam.

Yeah, but it's a four course menu, isn't it?

He finishes with

the unusual horseradish snow,

herring powder and a selection of herbs.

Does this make you

-proud to be British?

-Yes.

-Well, let's taste it.

-OK.

Come on.

Are you happy with the pickled herring?

I think the flavours stand out.

I think they marry.

Can you differentiate elements of herring on there?

No, it gets lost.

What about the horseradish?

When you tasted it in the kitchen, it was too cold -

when you tasted it straight off the liquid nitrogen.

By putting it in the freezer, I think

it allowed the flavour of the horseradish to come through more.

I don't really get the horseradish, doesn't work.

You didn't use a lot

of that charcoal mayonnaise.

No, I didn't, but I'd like to think that it was balanced.

-Coal mayonnaise.

-Yeah.

Wow.

It's a really pungent flavour.

Adam, explain the presentation to me.

Does it tell a story?

For me, the story is about the forgotten ingredient

and the people left behind.

The two tie into one.

If a veteran was to get that maybe at the banquet, in front of them,

would it be something that really stood out for them?

I'm not so sure.

Do you think it's good enough?

It's a very light dish, but full of punch and flavour.

The idea is fantastic, presentation's lovely.

I just think, is it suffering actually, cos it's too small.

Do you think you've done enough?

I think I've done enough to stay in the running for the top position.

You have come to win, haven't you?

I have come to win, yes.

I was very happy with it.

Possibly on the small side,

but on the whole, very happy with it.

Next to plate up is Tom Sellers.

I was wondering, did Adam teach you how to burn that or is that Tom?

It's meant to be this colour.

-HE LAUGHS

-Are you sure about that?

It's meant to be this colour.

Despite being criticised for an overly-complicated starter,

he's working with a lot of flavours again today.

First on the dish is the burnt apple puree,

samphire,

then the much-talked-about burnt celeriac,

topped with a pan-fry of turbot fillet.

Finally, he pipes on oyster emulsion,

and spoons over fish sauce, made from the turbot bones.

Well done.

Do you think it honours the veterans of D-Day?

It's real, classic cooking from the heart.

Cider, apples, turbot...

-Let's taste it.

-Let's.

This way.

Bit of stress there, Tom.

Lots of cooking at the last minute.

-You tasted that bit of turbot?

-Yep.

I think the turbot's cooked really well.

It's slightly over.

If you're being hypercritical...

-But it matters.

-It does, yeah.

He says, with his turbot in the oven.

Are you happy with the oyster emulsion?

That was a gamble for me, especially serving it on a hot plate.

But I think it really adds not only a flavour, but a texture.

I think the oyster emulsion is one of the standout flavours in that.

-It's beautiful.

-Yes.

Are you happy with ALL of the elements in this dish?

The burnt apple, the celeriac...?

Yes, I think that the celeriac adds real depth to the dish.

Bit of burnt celeriac.

Do you actually get that barbecued flavour?

Yeah, a little bit, I do.

And then with the burnt apple puree?

-Burnt apple puree's the nice thing.

-Does it need celeriac?

It doesn't need both probably, no.

-Do you think you got the whole balance right here?

-Yes, I do.

I tried to pick three or four flavours that

really spoke for themselves.

-Less is more.

-Has he stuck to that?

No.

If anything, this has got more on it than the starter.

-What would you score this dish?

-I'd like it to score highly.

If I was a veteran, I'd be really happy to tuck into that.

If you get the opportunity.

Hey, Tommy.

-How's it going?

-I thought it was a tasty plate of food.

Were you happy with it?

Yeah, there's always improvements.

Last to serve their fish course is seasoned pro Adam Byatt.

His most crucial stage is cleanly removing the delicate sand crust

from his turbot.

It's quite a gamble, this. Or not?

The fish is so tender that it could easily break up

as Adam moves it to a plate to clean.

-This is

-BLEEP.

It's going to fall apart.

Safely transferred, Adam removes the skin.

He places into bowls

razor clams with fennel sand,

muscles, scallops and oysters,

covering in fish sauce.

Next, he dresses with samphire and sea aster -

a wild herb found on salty marshes -

and finishes the dish with

a drizzle of dill oil...

..before serving the whole turbot on a specially-made board

to be carved at the table.

This is all about the Normandy Landings.

This is a whole turbot

that's been baked in sand.

You both look like you need feeding.

There's a piece each.

-Let's go.

-OK.

Turbot.

Is it good enough for the banquet?

I've cooked the turbot before in a practise for this competition,

and that's the best one that's come out for me.

Turbot's cooked lovely.

Yeah, perfect.

This is a very moreish plate of food.

Tell me about the base of the dish. What have we here?

You've got a sort of...a creamy, rich champagne sauce,

cooked from all the stock of the shellfish.

I think the sauce for me is very light, full of flavour.

There's a lot of it.

-And the leaves you have in here...?

-That's sea aster.

Adds a real nice saltiness to it.

HE CRUNCHES

To eat this raw is a challenge.

-Harsh.

-Yes, I think so too.

And the squid ink pearls.

Yeah, I think they add a real burst of saltiness to the dish,

lift everything up.

The squid pearls, Adam?

Apart from a burst in your mouth...

I don't think it needs it.

Does it tell a story?

Yes. It tells the most important story of the D-Day Landings.

There's no connection because the sand's been taken off, you know.

If you were scoring this?

I can't find much wrong with it, Richard.

Does this worry you?

Yeah, I think it does a little bit.

-It's a very good place of food.

-It is.

How was that?

Overall, I was happy with what I cooked.

Cooking against you two, I'll be just happy to stay in the race.

You know, if I'm in it, but within a point...

by the end of today, I'd be happy.

I think it's all the way to the wire, boys.

Whatever it is, it's going to be very close...

between the three of us.

I'm going to start with Adam Simmonds

with your Silver Darlings dish.

Adam, I think you know me,

and I don't normally like whimsical dishes.

I was really worried about the nitrogen,

and the horseradish foam,

and the charcoal mayonnaise.

Normally, I throw dishes like that in the bin.

But...

..the cucumber, the tartare,

even the horseradish snow and charcoal mayonnaise...

A triumph.

The use of the herring...

..was really brave of you.

I'm sure the D-Day veterans would feel quite nostalgic

about that dish.

If only you'd cooked more of it.

Portion size was minuscule.

So, that needs to be improved upon.

Otherwise, I honestly thought it was a brilliant dish.

Thank you.

And it certainly had a Great British theme running around it.

Tom.

Your Taste Of Normandy with turbot, oysters and samphire...

I really enjoyed the chargrilled celeriac.

The burnt apple puree really worked well with the dish,

the oyster emulsion, yeah, it was really good...

but...

..honestly, I think there was far too much going on.

And the turbot,

I don't think it cooked as well as it should.

It didn't make great eating, Tom.

And finally, did it really tell a story?

I'm not too sure the veterans will get this link with Normandy,

frankly.

Adam Byatt, for your By Sea...

with sand-baked turbot,

with shellfish, squid ink and pearls...

The cream sauce...

..frankly, I think there was far too much of it.

I was really concerned about the squid ink pearls.

I think spherification isn't really part of my world...

Mm-hm.

But they did work.

And I thought the turbot tasted utterly delicious.

It was... Phwoar,

a real masterclass on how to cook

the king of the seas.

However,

I think the veterans would have no idea that it was cooked in sand.

I didn't necessarily get the whole story behind it either.

So, the scores...

..Adam Simmonds...

..for your Silver Darlings...

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

..nine.

Tom,

your Taste Of Normandy.

I'm going to give you...

..a seven.

Adam Byatt,

for your By Sea...

I'm going to give you...

..eight.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

-Chefs, I'll see you all tomorrow.

-Thanks.

Thank you.

-Well done, Tom.

-Well done.

With two courses down, Adam Simmonds remains top

with an impressive 18 points.

Going into main course, two points ahead of Adam

and three ahead of Tom, is obviously...

It's a nice buffer but it still needs to be a lot wider.

I think I was

harshly done by for the fish course, but you know, that's real life.

I'd like to be higher up the leaderboard by now.

I'm not interested particularly in

coming second or third, so,

um, I've got a lot to work for.

Tomorrow, the heat is on for the main course.

And Tom and Adam Byatt are pulling out all the stops

to stay in the race.

First time I've seen you sweat all week.

-Is it?

-That means you haven't been running...

-I might have raised my

-BLEEP

-game. Then we're all in trouble...

But have they pushed themselves too far?

-Why the

-BLEEP

-did I choose to do this?