London and South East Dessert Great British Menu

This week on Great British Menu,

three of London and the South East's finest chefs,

seasoned pro, Adam Byatt...

That's worth winning then. We'd best crack on.

..his one time sous chef and

talented newcomer, Tom Sellers...

That works better for me if you're under more pressure.

..and returning contender, Adam Simmonds...

Thank you!

..are battling it out for the honour of cooking at a banquet at

the magnificent St Paul's Cathedral to commemorate

the 70th Anniversary of D-Day.

Yesterday, Tom Sellers scored a perfect ten for his main course...

-A ten.

-..putting him back in the competition.

All three chefs are going into the dessert course on equal points.

I don't worry about what's going on around me. I focus on my thing.

Whoever scores the lowest will be out of the competition...

I am having a nightmare.

I might not have a full dessert to put on the plate.

..and each chef is doing everything to make sure it isn't them.

"Keep calm and carry on cooking", that's what they say, no?

This year, the chefs are remembering D-Day, and the soldiers who

fought for us on the beaches of Normandy 70 years ago.

Their challenge?

To produce patriotic dishes that tell the story of wartime Britain.

Let's hope blood, sweat and tears has gone into this one, Chief.

-Wow.

-Inspired by first-hand memories of the Second World War.

And Jerry used to come over the trees, machine-gunning and bombing.

-You just ran for safety wherever you could get.

-Very brave.

Judging them this week is Great British Menu's most successful chef.

Three time winner, Richard Corrigan.

It's really tough in that kitchen.

There are three chefs on the same score.

I'm looking for some great desserts.

It's their last chance to impress me,

and impress me they must.

So, Tom. How do you feel?

You got a perfect ten yesterday.

Given me a lot of confidence,

and maybe just that bit of energy

I need for today, you know,

to go into the dessert.

I kind of thought we might end up down to the pudding,

and of course, we are.

Whoever makes the mistake today,

that's going to be the telltale factor of who goes home.

-Confident in your pud?

-Yes.

-Confident?

-Yes.

-Good.

-Confident?

-In me? Yeah.

First up is determined newcomer, Tom Sellers.

After a disappointing start, he scored the first ten

yesterday with his classic but perfectly executed main course.

He has to hit the mark again or he's out.

Dessert is always difficult.

I'm hoping that if I execute it right here

which is a big ask in itself,

I'm hoping that if I do, that it will reap the reward.

-Morning, Richard.

-Good morning. Title of your dish.

Winston Churchill's Treat Box.

Obviously the guys picked up on indulgences that he had,

so the main ingredients here are whisky, cigars, beer, chocolate.

All your ingredients here. What have we here?

So, you've got different textures of chocolate.

We're going to make a chocolate soil.

We're going to make an ice cream with the beer.

Beers are notorious for not making a very good ice cream.

It is, and I can't tell you how hard I've worked on this beer ice cream.

-Well, tell me. How?

-Mark 27 is the one that we're going with today.

-27!

And hopefully you'll see the hard work today.

Going to make a parfait with the whisky, you know,

this one takes me a little bit out of my comfort zone.

-Do you think you're in with a fighting chance?

-I am nervous.

-To succeed, you have to be prepared to fail.

-Or win.

-Exactly.

-This could be your D-Day.

-I really hope so, Richard.

Tom Seller's dish is a very complicated dessert.

Beer, for example, is notorious for not tasting of anything. Whisky.

Too much can destroy your dish. Too little. Why bother using it?

Next up is second-timer Adam Simmonds.

After winning the first two courses, he didn't quite hit the brief with

his main, scoring a disappointing seven, and throwing away his lead.

I can come back from this.

It's anyone's to take,

but it's going to be mine at the end of the day.

I'm going to go through to the judge's chamber on Friday

and then get to the final banquet.

Give me the title of your dish.

Logan's Legacy.

Logan's Legacy, what is that?

He was a Colonel in the American Army

and he was responsible for the chocolate bar that the troops had.

It was an energy bar.

Didn't taste very nice, but I've reinvented it so it does taste nice.

Talk to me.

I've got some chocolate moulds

so what we do is temper the chocolate, line the mould,

then into that, I put evaporated milk and condensed milk foam,

so that it's like a marshmallow.

Do you think the Veterans of D-Day will find something

familiar about your chocolate bar if you are lucky enough to get there?

I think if I am lucky enough to get there, and the Veterans see it,

then they will understand it.

Adam Simmonds's Logan's Legacy does sound a novel idea,

but is it going to deliver substance?

I really hope he knows what he's doing. I'm very concerned.

That it just might be just...another chocolate bar.

Last up is experienced chef Adam Byatt,

who bagged his highest score yet for his Winston Churchill

inspired main course and is determined to plate

the winning dessert, so he'll cook for the judges tomorrow.

I'm taking myself right out my comfort zone

because I think I have to win this now, it's all level...

If I don't raise my game here and take something else to the table,

who knows? I'm going to go home.

-Good morning, Adam.

-How are you?

Very well, thank you.

What's the title of your dish?

The title of this dish, Richard, is Victory.

So now we're at a stage where the D-Day landings were successful

and we move back to Britain with

what I think is the most quintessential,

amazing pudding that this country's ever come up with, which is

-apple pie and custard.

-And what have we here?

We've got beautiful British Cox's apples.

We've got some vanilla, a tiny bit of cinnamon, just to give a hint.

We've got all butter, beautiful puff pastry.

There are influences from France, Tarte Tatin,

caramelised apples and all those incredible things from Normandy,

brought them into what I think is our apple pie, and made it into

a 21st century version with a few surprises.

We like your surprises.

Adam Byatt is doing some kind of apple pie and custard.

Maybe there's a trick up his sleeve.

Can he deliver that dessert that's going to bring him through to the judges?

Only time will tell.

Michelin starred Tom once again has an inspirational Churchill

quote for the kitchen.

"Perhaps it is better to be irresponsible and right,

"than to be responsible and wrong."

Do you think that's good for you today?

I like that, Tom.

Very fitting for today, isn't it?

So, the final banquet's at St Paul's.

I think that makes you more determined to get to the banquet,

because it's such a spectacular venue, no?

I think it reflects who we're cooking for.

That's worth winning then. We'd best crack on.

Seasoned pro Adam Byatt nailed the brief yesterday and is determined

to score highly again today with his aptly named Victory dessert.

He's given away little about the dish,

but is starting by making a frozen custard.

So, Adam. What's your dessert?

Apple pie and custard, Adam.

And have you practised it?

I assure you I have cooked more apple pie in the last two months

than I have ever cooked in my life and ever want to again.

But they have not all been the same version of it.

-So, you're feeling a little bit more pressure then, Adam?

-Yes, Tom.

Well, that works better for me,

if you're under more pressure.

I focus very much on what's in front of me.

I don't worry about what other people are doing,

I don't worry about what's going on around me,

I focus on my thing. I'm drawing from all my years in classical

cookery and just understanding what an ingredient behaves like under

certain pressures, and I think my palette

will help me along the way here. I really do.

In contrast, returning chef Adam Simmonds has

relied on experimental cooking techniques all week to bag him

points, and for his chocolate orange dessert,

he's making a technical pates de fruits, an orange jelly sweet,

and he's using his favourite liquid nitrogen once again.

What are you making this time?

Orange and evaporated milk granita.

You could do it in the freezer, but it causes too many water particles.

Yes, every housewife should have this in her house.

He also needs to temper chocolate for his chocolate bar

but has run into problems.

I'm going to have to find somewhere else to do it

because it's too hot in here.

The chocolate must be melted and cooled to specific

temperatures to give a glossy finish and snap to the chocolate bar.

But the heat in the kitchen could result in a dull finish

and white patches.

So there's a great danger of it going grainy in that kitchen.

My worst nightmare.

And what about the moulds?

Obviously it says Logan Bar.

Hopefully this is going to be just more than a bar of chocolate, yeah?

Ambitious first-timer Tom Sellers is also making a chocolate bar for

his Winston Churchill inspired dish,

with layers of whisky caramel and whisky parfait

on a malted-chocolate biscuit base.

He's also preparing textures of chocolate -

soil, custard and crispy.

After overly-complicating his starter, and fish courses,

he got the balance just right for his main, and he's aiming for

another perfect ten.

It's definitely do or die today, you know?

I don't think the other two guys are going to score badly,

so I have to score well.

Everything rides on this dish.

So, Tom. How's everything?

I think now it's just about staying focused.

I'm so conscious that

so many people have failed on dessert or fallen down.

I don't want to join that list of people.

It's the pressure that got to them, by the way.

-It wasn't their dessert idea, it was the pressure.

-Yeah.

They made just fundamental errors in the very end.

Tom's about to reveal a secret weapon he hopes adds

authenticity to his boozy chocolate dish.

Beautiful beer.

-It's tasty, eh?

-It's very nice.

So, this is the beer that Churchill got flown over to the

troops on the Spitfires.

Essentially, it was the beer

that fuelled the troops to win the battle.

Hopefully it's going to fuel me to win the dessert.

After the D-Day landings, Kentish ale was sent to British

troops in Normandy to help boost morale.

To make this unusual operation possible,

the ale was flown in specially adapted barrels via Spitfires.

The original brewery closed in 1965, but the yeast was preserved

and today, nearby Westerham Brewery and brewer Robert Wicks

have resurrected the recipe.

We recultured the yeast in order to recreate the flavours of the beer

because we believe that the liquor, the water

and the yeast is about 80% of the flavour profile of the beer

and we can recreate those flavours with the same liquor

-and the same yeast as the Black Eagle Brewery.

-Fantastic.

Tom's used the original wartime beer in his ice cream recipe.

Well, it's certainly carried over those malt flavours

and you definitely know it's made with beer.

-You've done a fantastic job.

-Thank you very much.

One of the beer carrying Spitfires is now a flying memorial at

Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar in Kent, a key RAF base during World War II.

-Wow.

-Historian Robin Brooks showed Tom around.

Churchill actually often came to Biggin Hill to see his boys,

his "few" as he called them.

It's not known

whether Churchill himself ordered the sending of the ale,

or whether it was attributed to him as positive propaganda.

As regards the beer, it was carried over in underslung tanks

under the wings which were actually fixed under here.

Yeah, I think it's very inspirational.

Very, very inspirational indeed, yes.

For a better sense of the wartime atmosphere,

Tom also met with ex-RAF serviceman, Bernard Salter.

I was here during the Battle of Britain in 1940. I'm 92 Squadron.

-Amazing.

-The Spitfires... My job was flight mechanic.

-Always under threat.

Oh, yeah.

Jerry used to come over the trees, machine gunning and bombing.

You just ran for safety wherever you could get.

-Very brave.

-At the time, it was a job and we did our job.

I feel very lucky to be sitting in this.

It makes cooking sound easy, to be honest.

Coming here today has really made me connect a lot more with the brief.

Makes me feel very proud and you know, really puts a lot of meaning

behind what we're doing. It's a privilege to be involved.

Tom's beer ice cream is chilling in the freezer.

But he's having problems with the other alcoholic

element of his dish, his whisky parfait.

The cream just split from the parfait so I'm just remaking

and I'm under pressure for time because of it, but I'll be there.

I won't fail.

But, in the heat of the kitchen, the mixture splits again.

Yeah, I'm under massive pressure. My whisky parfait's gone wrong twice.

"Keep calm and carry on cooking", that's what they say, no?

On the other side of the kitchen, experienced Adam Byatt's

making pastry cones for his Victory dessert.

He's stuffed apples with apple and raisin mix, apple brandy

and frozen custard, before encasing in puff pastry.

Adam has so far been guarded about the elements of his dish,

but Richard's keen to get to the bottom of the mystery presentation.

-So, when you put the layer of custard on, what like a...

-It's inside.

You've turned it into a jelly or something was it?

No, just frozen it. Frozen it solid.

-Frozen? Inside the apple?

-Yeah.

Do you think the dish has enough in it to say,

"Yeah, this is a fantastic dish to get to the banquet."?

It's got a really nice 21st century twist to it but it's also

going to deliver memories of home and comfort food and...

-What is that?

-It's a surprise.

Adam is trying to keep the surprise but you know, cones are only

used for one thing, and that's for putting ice cream in.

Rival Adam Simmonds is in for a nasty surprise.

He's made his chocolate bars by filling chocolate moulds with

evaporated and condensed milk mousse

and evaporated milk jelly before sealing with chocolate.

But they won't come out.

I am having a nightmare.

For some reason, the chocolate's stuck to the mould,

so now I've got to put it in a blast chiller to see

if I can release it like that, and we'll see what happens.

I might not have a full dessert to put on a plate.

Adam can only wait.

Any mistake could result in a low score and see him

out of the competition.

First to plate up and banking on his Victory dessert proving

just that, is seasoned pro Adam Byatt.

He tops his baked apple pie with a decorative leaf

and dusts with icing sugar. Adam serves custard on the side.

Finally, the surprise element he hopes will give him

the winning edge. He pipes vanilla ice cream into cones, served with a

flake in a spice box.

-There we go.

-So, Adam.

Is this a Great British Dish for the Great British Menu?

-I think it is, Richard. Yeah.

-And the ice cream?

Yes, we've got 99s on the side in a little spice box with all

the spices that we then brought back after the war.

Well, let's taste it. Enjoy.

Do you think that would work at a banquet? Before it all melts?

It would need to be made frozen like that and then added in at the end.

-I think for a banquet, this isn't feasible, do you?

-No.

-And the custard?

-Yeah, it's in there if you poke around a bit, I think

you'll probably get it. There's more here if you'd like more here.

There was supposed to be a layer of custard.

I mean I can see a little bit of it.

Remind me again the type of apple you used here.

-It's a Cox, Richard.

-Yeah.

-Do you think the apple is cooked through?

-I do, Richard.

You've got that soft-centred apple compote in the middle,

then you've got the fondant in apple that's sat on the pastry.

And yeah, for me, they're both absolutely cooked.

It looks to me as if the apple's...

Some of the apple's collapsed.

I think Adam will be disappointed with this.

Is it enough?

I think I've done enough, Richard.

-Out of ten, what would you score it?

-I think it's a nine.

When I watched him dress that apple, it made me nervous slightly.

-The same for me.

-But then seeing it and eating it and him trying to push

-it further might actually be his downfall.

-Only if ours work.

Richard gave nothing away.

He ate an awful lot of it and I ate it

and I think it was delicious so I'm happy.

Simmonds. Leave that closed, man.

Returning contender Adam Simmonds has been

chilling his chocolate bars to harden them. Time to plate up.

He has to remove them from the moulds

or he won't have a dish to serve.

Thank you!

-Happy?

-I honestly thought, seriously,

-I didn't think I'd have a dessert to put on the

-BEEP

-plate.

Logan's Legacy is Adam's last chance to score big.

Everything rides on this dish.

He starts with the problematic chocolate orange bar, then

scatters orange jelly sweets, orange segments, and aerated chocolate.

He tops with edible silver leaf wrapping,

finishing with evaporated milk sorbet and milk and orange granita.

-So, Adam. You got there in the end.

-Just.

Is this a slice of edible history?

I think so, because it's to do with the allies,

-and the Americans in particular.

-Come on, let's taste it.

What have we here then?

We've got a chocolate aerated bar,

evaporated milk ice cream, and then fresh orange.

What do you think, Tom? What's your initial thoughts on it?

-It looks a bit small and dainty.

-The filling in the chocolate bar.

-Are you happy with the consistency of it all?

-It needs work on it.

The filling's a bit gummy for me.

I know it's supposed by be marshmallowy,

but it's quite...I don't know if that texture works.

Do you think it's a bit too simple to be a great legacy D-Day dish?

I think technically it's very good.

Looking at it, the simplicity of it, for sure.

This was a great idea to get basically a story of the Logan bar

told on a bit of paper

so that every guest can know exactly what the story is.

He's even put his face ...that's very funny.

Out of ten, give me a score.

Six.

-Have you done enough?

-With a six, probably not, no.

-I don't see this dessert as a threat to me.

-OK.

But, we both know he's a good cook

and there's some great flavours there.

For me, it's slightly style over substance.

-Hi, Adam, you all right? How did you get on?

-It wasn't right at all.

You weren't happy with it?

It didn't deliver what I know it can deliver, and that's the problem.

Last to fight for his place in the judging chamber is talented

newcomer Tom Sellers.

With his dish of Winston Churchill's Favourite Things.

Into a whisky presentation box, he pours a layer of chocolate

custard and tops with chocolate soil and chocolate crispy.

His chocolate bar made with whisky caramel, chocolate biscuit

and the problematic whisky parfait is covered in edible gold leaf

and placed on his textures of chocolate.

The beer ice cream is spooned on the side

and topped with smoky salt.

The final touch is smoke from the beer hops,

pumped into the box for a hit of aroma when opened.

Would it make king, country and prime minister proud?

Yes, I think so.

-Let's taste it.

-Let's.

Would this be a treat for Churchill and a treat for the veterans?

I think he'd be really happy to eat that.

It's all his favourite things put into a box.

He's pulled out some nice presentation there.

-Yeah, it's good. Lovely.

-I like it.

Are you happy with the consistency of that parfait?

Would you change anything?

It gave you a bit of trouble inside, didn't it?

Yeah, it split on me twice.

But I think the flavour's there, the foundation's there.

The parfait. Is it a parfait or a mousse?

For me, it's more of a mousse.

-That's a gelatine-set mousse.

-Yeah.

The beer ice cream, Tom. Are you happy with it?

Yeah, I really am.

You get that really raw, hoppy flavour.

As a beer, it was lovely.

In the concept of this dish with the whisky,

-it's just like a kidney punch.

-The portion size.

-Would you change anything?

-Yeah. I'd make the bar smaller.

Because it is a rich dessert.

I don't think we could finish that.

Would you agree or not?

I mean, it's just so rich, it's so big, maybe for Churchill.

-Maybe, yeah.

-Big guy.

Do the flavours compliment each other?

Yeah, I think so.

The only way this was going to work was to go big flavour with

big flavour.

It's just too punchy and in-your-face.

There's some bold flavours in there.

Do you think you've done enough to get through to Friday?

I really hope so. I couldn't have done any more.

-When it came up to the pass, I thought game set and match.

-Yeah.

-For him.

-Yeah.

-Then when you eat it...

Now you're feeling a bit more confident.

I'm not going to lie, it's pleasing. I could still be in the running.

Yeah. It's pleasing for me.

-How did it go?

-I'm not...I'm not sure.

We'd said that at the beginning of this course, that the

person that makes the mistakes is going home. I made mistakes.

I made mistakes too. Cheers then, boys. Well done for a good week.

-Cheers.

-Thanks for a good week, thank you. I really enjoyed it.

May the best man win.

Good evening, chefs.

It's been a great week with some very high scores.

However, only two of you can go through to the judges' chamber.

I'm going to start with you, Adam Byatt,

and your Victory dish of apple pie and custard.

The vanilla ice cream and custard were good.

The pastry around the apple was beautifully caramelised

and well cooked.

But, I think you could look at another

-variety of apple for that dish.

-OK.

-Something with a bit of tart.

-And was that apple thoroughly cooked? I didn't think so.

-OK.

I didn't really get the custard inside the apple.

-This needs a little bit of work.

-I understand.

Adam Simmonds, your Logan's Legacy of dark chocolate,

orange and milk, a lovely idea. A homage to our American allies.

It would be a real treat for the veterans at the banquet.

The evaporated milk sorbet was good.

The chocolate casing, it was very fine. But your portion was tiny.

Again! The filling in the chocolate bar was a little spongy.

-Too much gelatine.

-OK.

-But it was a spot on brief.

-It certainly needs some tweaks.

-For sure.

Tom, your Winston Churchill treat box with whisky parfait and beer sorbet.

I thought it was a fantastic concept. You've done your historical research.

I liked the beer ice cream.

-But, God, was it rich!

-Yeah.

-That bar was a little bit too big.

-Agreed.

The filling wasn't perfect and that whisky parfait.

A bit too strong of whisky, maybe?

You need to watch your technique if you ever cook this dish again.

So now for the scores.

With a score of seven, putting them through to the judges, is...

Adam Simmonds.

-So, how do you feel?

-Well done, mate.

A bit speechless to be fair.

I'm delighted obviously, to go against these two

-and to get through is a massive achievement.

-So, two chefs are left.

Both on level pegging. Only one can go through to cook for the judges.

Adam Byatt, I'm giving you...

-..a six.

-OK.

Tom? I'm giving you...

a six.

So it's a tie.

In the event of a tie, I need to review both menus.

Who really nailed the brief?

Going through to cook for the judges is...

..you, Tom.

-OK.

-Congratulations.

-Guys, it was so close.

-Well done.

-Adam, commiserations. Take care.

-Thank you.

Tom and Adam Simmonds will

cook for the judges tomorrow,

meaning Adam Byatt must leave the competition.

It is what it is, Tom.

I messed it up.

I'm really disappointed but I'm really happy for Tom,

and I wish him all the best.

It's a bittersweet feeling for me.

Adam Byatt is a former employer, a friend,

but of course I was here to win so I'm proud of myself.

Now, it's about turning up tomorrow and absolutely smashing it.

I am so happy that I'm cooking for the judges again.

This time, I'm going to go further.

I've got a second bite of the cherry tomorrow

and I need to take it with both hands.

Tomorrow, Tom and Adam will cook their entire menus again.

-For me, it's like lamb to the slaughter.

-Yeah?

And I'm going to stand and enjoy that.

But, with the judges expecting their finest hour...

It is the closest we've ever seen it.

-Stonkingly good pud.

-..which of the chefs will be left shocked?

Really?