North East Starter Great British Menu

This year on Great British Menu...

There's no BLEEP saucepans. Can you get me a saucepan?

..the nation's top chefs are striving to

produce their finest hour on a plate...

-"Read before you feed!"

-I think that idea's brilliant.

..for a glorious banquet marking the 70th anniversary of D-day

at London's iconic St Paul's Cathedral,

a bastion of British wartime resilience.

Going head-to-head this week to represent

the Northeast are former starter course champion, Colin McGurran,

who last year fell at the final hurdle...

Heartbreaking, going home, so I'm going to try me best, guys.

..ambitious newcomer, Paul Welburn...

I think the Northeast needs a new champion.

..and Michelin-starred heavyweight, Frances Atkins,

whose father fought on D-day itself.

-What rank was he? Captain?

-Yes, captain. Very good!

-But with such a personal connection to this year's brief...

-Confident?

-Happy?

-No, I'm not at all happy.

..will it all prove too much for first-timer Frances?

-Are you happy with what you put out?

-No.

June 2014 marks 70 years since D-day, the momentous battle

on the beaches of Normandy that helped bring an end to World War II.

The chefs have been tasked with creating patriotic dishes

that evoke the fighting spirit of the 1940s.

Big box of goodies!

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

They've used personal stories to inspire their menus, both at home...

-Hello.

-Hello, my love.

-..and abroad.

There was an enormous battle on this beach

and many of the men never got off the boats.

It was a terrible, bloody, horrific time.

Fighting it out today for the chance to cook at the D-day

banquet are experienced new chef, Frances Atkins,

who's held a coveted Michelin star for ten years...

People always underestimate me in the kitchen,

but I didn't get a Michelin star for nothing.

And I'm ready for action.

..ambitious first-timer, Paul Welburn,

who trained under top London chef, Gary Rhodes...

I've been cooking for many years in Michelin-starred restaurants.

I've got the experience.

Now it's my chance in the Great British Menu kitchen.

..and returning champion, Colin McGurran,

who is back with a vengeance after his failed attempt last year.

This is my third time in the competition.

I've got to make sure this year I get back to the banquet.

Judging the chefs this week is a giant on the London food scene.

-Colin, who do you think it's going to be?

-The judge? Um...

A former champion, who cooked alongside Colin at the banquet two years ago.

-Are you nervous?

-I suppose we'll see.

"It" will be walking through that door any minute.

-Double Michelin-starred Phil Howard.

-Good morning.

Good morning, Mr Howard. How are you?

Back into the ring! Very good to see you.

- How are you feeling? - Nervous, nervous.

-Morning, Chef.

-Are you well? Are you good?

-Ready to fight the battle?

-Definitely.

-Definitely. Pumped up, ready to go.

-Good.

-Welcome.

-Thank you.

-Welcome to the arena.

And with star quality, obviously. We are expecting...

No pressure there, then(!)

-Very much looking forward to it. Good luck.

-Thank you.

I wasn't expecting that. That was the... Bit of a surprise.

He's going to be a tough one to please!

First up is classically trained Frances Atkins, who's hoping to

go all the way to the banquet with a menu that's very close to her heart.

-Good morning.

-Good morning.

-Welcome into the kitchen.

-Thank you.

-This is an unusual prop to find.

-This is a picture of my father.

-Was he there, on D-day?

-Yes, very much so.

He was responsible for helping design the Mulberry Harbour

and he went there across and fought on the beach

and I have based my menu on him.

It's a culinary journey on his wartime experience.

That makes your participation extraordinarily poignant.

OK, tell me all about it.

My starter, here, is called Last Orders

because he was in the pub to start with, having a beer,

wartime luncheon meat sandwich and piccalilli.

The luncheon meat is made of Yorkshire tongue, poussin

and some pancetta, and I've got a beer, set in a little gel,

with parsnip foam on top to represent the white of the beer.

From what I know of your cooking,

-the word "foam" I'm sure doesn't appear on your menu very often.

-No!

I have embraced some more modern techniques, as you will see,

-through my other dishes.

-I look forward to it.

-Good luck.

-Thank you very much indeed.

So, Frances' dish, Last Orders,

we have beer jelly with a parsnip foam, luncheon meat toasted sandwich.

Is it actually going to be either clever enough or grand enough

to sit in the context of St Paul's Cathedral?

That's my issue.

Next up is ambitious newcomer Paul, who is looking to make a big

first impression with a menu inspired by his grandfather.

-Chef.

-How are you?

-Very good.

-Good to see you.

-You, too.

Have you got any family connections with the war?

My grandfather, he served in the war. In the Green Howards.

-One of my presentations is a homage to him as well.

-OK.

Let's hear all about your starter in more detail.

Starter is duck and soldiers.

It links my grandfather, the soldier element, a play on words.

Essentially, it's going to be a dip egg and soldiers.

You start the day with a good breakfast, so start the banquet,

hopefully, with a celebratory breakfast.

It's going to be using the fantastic ducks.

I'll make some home-made luncheon meat from the breasts. Lovely duck livers.

I'm going to make a little parfait out of that as well. The duck egg's obviously the star of the show.

-They'll be slow-cooked.

-In terms of the duck's relevance to the brief?

I think duck sounds a little bit more luxurious.

Hopefully, I'll be at the banquet with this dish.

So, Paul's dish, duck and soldiers...

He's got he duck egg, duck parfait, duck spam. It could be a really lovely thing to eat.

Whether or not it's going to scream the brief out

when it gets put down in front of me is another question.

Last up is former champion Colin, who, having cooked

his starter at the banquet two years ago, is coming back fighting.

And is determined to put the ghosts of last year behind him,

with a menu inspired by his grandfather.

-Colin.

-Nice to see you again. Back in, third time.

Third time. What's your take on the brief? Have you treated it as a whole? Dish by dish?

There's so many things to go on, I've tried to take inspiration of everyone who's helped in the war.

Be it animals or human beings.

You've got my grandad, who was on a ship.

D-day, so you've got the soldiers all the way through to the

homing pigeons. So I've tried to commemorate the whole aspect, to be able to cook wonderful food.

OK, tell us all about your starter.

My starter is basically ration packs.

It is a selection of different things, as the ration pack was.

So, I'm using some beautiful beef here for corned beef hash.

It'll look like a hard boiled egg, but it's actually going to be the corned beef hash.

-Mustard panna cotta on the outside with a saffron gel on the top.

-OK.

-To give that shape of the egg.

On top of that, we have a Parmesan cheese cigarette.

-Finally, I've got the chocolate kind of explosion here.

-In a starter?

-In a starter.

-Interesting.

-It's what they had in the ration packs.

I'm going to try and marry them

all together to make it as one harmonious dish.

Sounds right up your street. Right up brief's street.

I hope it's right up eat street.

That's the danger.

So, Colin's Modern Ration Pack.

He's got corned beef hash, somehow looking like an egg,

he's got rum, white chocolate and cherry.

This is going to be about as challenging as it gets.

Those ingredients don't really have a place in a starter,

but, hey, he might pull it off.

Former starter course champion Colin has a lot to prove, from the off.

So, Colin, two new people. We're making you raise your game?

-I think I'd be lying if I said no.

-I don't know about you, Frances,

but I think the Northeast needs a new champion. We're hunting for you.

It was heartbreaking going home, so I'm going to try me best, guys.

But Colin isn't the only chef determined to get to the banquet.

Michelin-starred Frances is using her late father to inspire

her menu, serving an interpretation of what

he might have had as his last meal before leaving for D-day.

A luncheon meat sandwich, served with beer jelly and parsnip foam,

a technical element that could push her outside of her classical comfort zone.

-Is that the beer, Frances?

-It is. Can you smell the aroma?

-I can, yeah!

That's going on top of that.

It's not really my sort of thing, so...fingers crossed, eh?

Frances, what about your father? That's a great picture.

-What rank was he? Captain?

-Yes. Very good.

He helped design the Mulberry Dock and I'm very proud of that fact.

That was a landing stage for the troops to land

and fight the enemy, so that's his involvement, there.

One of the country's top female chefs,

Frances Atkins co-owns The York Arms, in North Yorkshire.

Just watch out! There's a female about!

To get inspiration for her World War II menu,

Frances travelled to Arromanches, in Normandy,

home to the strategic Mulberry Harbour that her father

helped create and the beach where he landed 70 years ago.

I didn't actually appreciate, until I started doing some investigation

into it, how involved he was in D-day and what he had done.

He'd always just told us he had an old war injury

and that was all we knew.

I'm standing here in front of this Mulberry Dock

and I personally feel very, very proud that my father,

like thousands of other men, was involved in this. It's incredible.

And it's very important that we never ever forget their bravery.

Back in Yorkshire, Frances

and husband Bill uncovered more memories to inspire her dishes.

What I've discovered at home was this little box

and all this stuff fell out.

-All these letters and things?

-Yes! And there's a picture of him.

-Quite good looking, actually.

-Very. Very handsome young man, wasn't he?

-Yes. A letter of application for him to design...

-Design a Mulberry Dock.

Even some of his old ration tickets.

And, of course, we have his medals here.

And the thing that I have used in my story is this lovely little

Oak Leaf. Oak runs throughout all my dishes.

And that was awarded for outstanding service.

So I just hope my food is going to do his adventures justice.

But things aren't going well for Michelin-starred newcomer

Frances and her Last Orders sandwich.

-OK, Frances?

-No, I'm not OK. I'm behind time and I'm losing it.

She's first to plate up today, and despite making a simple

luncheon meat sandwich with beer jelly, has fallen behind schedule.

-What have we got?

-Parsnip puree, unseasoned.

-It is just going to be the foam.

-The foam for your beer jelly.

-Yes, that's right.

-Are you happy with how everything's going?

-Yes, except I'm behind time.

I sense Frances is being a little bit left behind.

She just had a slight air of panic in her eyes.

She's not quite on top of it.

A bit concerned she's just going to end up struggling to produce

her dish on time.

Fellow first-timer Paul seems to be taking everything in his stride.

Like Frances, he's making a modern take on luncheon meat,

with duck breast, to accompany his slow-cooked duck egg

and soldiers - a celebratory breakfast dish he's

making in tribute to his late grandfather.

My grandfather also served in the war.

He was a prisoner of war for three years.

Oh! What a handsome chap! Look at the hairstyle.

-He's got the cheeks for it, anyway.

-You can see the likeness.

That's very precious.

Yorkshireman Paul Welburn works for Searcy's in London and was

part of the original team to open the restaurant at the Gherkin.

It's simplicity, but at the same time, it's got to be exceptional.

He's looking to bring a touch of luxury to his D-day menu,

which has been inspired by his grandfather and taste-tested by friends and colleagues.

My grandfather was actually in the war. I've heard so many stories from my grandmother.

Obviously, this is him when he was in a prisoner of war camp.

He was there for three years. That straightaway gave me the inspiration.

For his starter, Paul wanted to treat the veterans to something his grandfather

might have dreamt of while he was a prisoner of war - a British breakfast, done his way.

It's not just going to be a boiled egg, it's going to be a slow-cooked egg.

I'm trying to link it with duck, just for that little bit of luxury that I think a banquet needs.

I'm excited. It means everything. I want to go in to win.

I don't want to be an extra number. I want to go in there and win this competition.

Great respect to my grandfather and do him proud.

I know he's up there, looking down.

-That luncheon meat is outstanding.

-Yeah, it is, isn't it?

Delicious.

-The right lines then?

-Yeah.

-It's brilliant.

-Here's to my grandfather.

-Cheers.

Paul's moved on to the sourdough soldiers to

accompany his luxurious duck dish, and unlike rival, Frances,

appears to have everything under control.

So, Paul, tell me what's going on here.

Working the soldiers, or my version of a soldier.

-This looks like a very thin soldier.

-It is.

-So how does the dish get presented?

-Layered up spam, pickled mushrooms, parfait, the slow-cooked duck egg

and then it'll be completely encased with the foam.

-A big hug in a bowl.

-Looking forward to that. I like a big hug in a bowl.

Paul's a confident cook. He knows what he's doing.

But, I have to say, I think he is basically putting up a bit of a restauranty plate of food.

I'm not convinced it's going to be quite spectacular

enough for a banquet with veterans at St Paul's.

We will see.

Returning champion Colin knows what it takes to get to the banquet

and is hoping his Modern Ration Pack,

inspired by his grandfather, with inventive corned beef hash,

smoked bacon croquette, Parmesan cigarette and chocolate

cherry explosion has the wow factor needed for such a special occasion.

So, this is going to be the egg yolk,

this is my saffron-chicken stock, kind of, yolk, if you like.

Set that in some liquid nitrogen,

then my panna cotta is going to go over the top,

and inside that is going to be my corned beef hash.

Technical, as ever.

If you get all the components at the same time,

I think it's quite impressive.

Bringing them all together... There could be a massive risk.

If one element's wrong,

or it doesn't quite complement something else,

then it could fall flat on its face.

My grandad was also in the war.

He was a second-class stoker,

so he was responsible for fuelling the ships with coal.

This is actually my grandad,

taken, I think, when he was 26 years old.

I feel privileged to be able to do this for him.

Previous winner, Colin McGurran,

cooks technically accomplished dishes

at Winteringham Fields in North Lincolnshire,

and is back to regain his crown.

Guys, two and two - two appetisers and two caviar, please.

Being in the competition twice before

gives me perhaps a slight advantage

in that I know what to expect and what can go wrong.

Even though I've got experience, it's still nerve-racking.

He's dug deep for this year's competition,

determined to reverse his fortune,

and with help from his Uncle Frank,

he's uncovered long-lost stories about his grandfather,

who, unbeknown to Colin, worked on the ships on D-day.

He was appointed to trawlers

which were basically fishing trawlers

-with the addition of, say, a six-pounder gun...

-Wow.

..and some depth charges at the back-end.

In the period of D-day,

he was appointed to a fuel carrier

which, of course, made this particular trawler a floating bomb.

-Exactly!

-And I don't think Grandad was aware of that fact!

He's gone now.

I would like to have just given him a pat on the back to say,

"God, I didn't realise you did this!"

You know, I think it's wonderful.

I think by having a personal link, in your heart,

it'll give you more confidence.

I'm just going to draw on the experiences and try and use that

for my advantage in the competition this year.

This is absolutely fabulous.

Grandad would be really proud of this dish.

I would certainly give you top marks for it.

Colin is tackling the unusual chocolate element

of his Modern Ration Pack starter - a chocolate explosion

made with frozen spheres of cherry puree and rum

dipped in cherry-coloured white chocolate.

I thought we were judging starters here.

Just adds a nice little sweetness to the dish.

It's not meant to be a car crash of flavours -

you put it in your mouth, it explodes. It cleanses the palate.

The cherry component to his dish, I don't quite get.

It's a bit in-your-face for me as a starter component, but that's Colin.

Colin's food is pretty, it is clever, it is accurate.

Is what he decided to cook going to be right for the day?

So that's what we'll have to wait and see.

Michelin-starred Frances is first to plate up her Last Orders starter,

a modern interpretation of what her father might have had

for his final meal before leaving for D-day.

Clock's ticking.

-First one on the pass soon. Are you confident? Happy?

-No.

I'm not at all happy.

Got to put everything together,

so I am under quite a lot of pressure at the moment.

With no time to waste, Frances slices her luncheon meat

and assembles her sandwich with cheese and poussin breast.

It's a toasty. I know.

Yeah, yeah. But, hey, hey, you know...

Next, the risky beer element.

She siphons parsnip foam onto her unusual beer jelly

and finally pots her piccalilli,

slices her luncheon meat sandwich

and serves it on an oak board

in homage to her father's medal for bravery,

with a fictional letter to tell her father's story on the side.

Well done.

Open the letter first, please.

"June, 1944." It reads, "Darling...

"I think about my last meal prior to the D-day,

"on British soil, which was in the local pub.

"The ingredients were scarce and food was simple -

"there was severe rationing. God be with us all, I love you. Tom."

-So who is "darling"?

-Darling is my mother.

-And Tom?

-My father.

-Are you happy with what you have put up?

-Mm.

In terms of execution, or conception?

Execution.

OK. Let's go and try.

Obviously, one of the downsides of having a very direct

and tangible family link to this brief

is I can see it's clearly quite emotional

when you get to the point of producing it.

It's a letter from her father,

this was what he ate last,

and it's a simple way of telling that story.

-It touches some heartstrings, as well, which is nice.

-Definitely.

With your toasted sandwich - is that what you were hoping to produce?

I haven't tasted it. I usually taste all my food before I serve it.

Why don't you have a taste and see what you think?

Why, do you not think it's any good?

No, I think it...it is...it is a toasted sandwich.

So we've got a sourdough, luncheon meat, chicken breast, the cheese.

I think the actual inside of the luncheon meat is tasty.

Better than tinned stuff.

It certainly is. Definitely.

I do want to see what the foam is like, in its own right.

-Quite heavy, isn't it?

-Quite.

-It's quite dense.

-Mm.

What do you think the average veteran would think of a beer jelly?

They'd just like a pint of beer, and not a jelly.

What about a score? To mark it out of ten, what would you give it?

-Five.

-Yeah... Probably agree with you.

-Frances, how do you feel now?

-Rubbish.

I just had to compromise my food, really.

To get there in the time.

Next to plate up is ambitious newcomer Paul,

with his Duck And Soldiers

celebratory breakfast dish in tribute to his grandfather.

He spoons duck parfait into egg-shaped bowls

and tops with duck luncheon meat

and pickled trompette mushrooms.

You're looking really cool and calm and organised, Paul.

I'm actually very nervous.

Next, he carefully places the slow-cooked duck egg

and covers with duck and bacon mousse.

To finish, he sprinkles crispy bacon

and serves his sourdough soldiers in a toast rack

engraved with his father's surname and regiment number.

-Who have we here?

-That's my grandfather.

It's an homage to him.

OK. Come on, then. Let's go and judge.

First, what of the duck and the name on the toast rack?

Well, obviously, the duck is a reference to the duck dish.

And Archer is my grandfather's surname.

This is what he would've had for breakfast, he said.

I don't quite get... Why's it egg and soldiers?

All components are in here?

Yes. The parfait, luncheon meat...

I'm trying to find the parfait.

The more you put your spoon in, the more you mix it up,

and the more all the flavours get...

There's a lot going on in there.

LOUD CRUNCHING Is this a soldier?

It's my interpretation - a refined soldier.

The good thing about a good old-fashioned soldier,

is when you dunk it in, it absorbs some of the...

-But that doesn't.

-And this...

-Doesn't.

-Doesn't.

So it's not a soldier.

OK, put you in my shoes. Give me a score.

I'll be diplomatic and say a seven.

For me it would be about a six or seven.

He's giving nothing away.

But I'm happy with it.

Dish was nice, executed fine. See what happens.

After missing out on the banquet last year, returning contender Colin

is pulling out all the stops with his Modern Ration Pack starter.

He's serving on glass-topped army mess tins

filled with reproduction ration packaging.

First on the dish is his creative corned beef egg

covered in mustard panna cotta, saffron gel, caviar and gold leaf.

Look how they go on in the Northeast - bits of gold dust and...

That's how we roll.

A tea bag of soup bouillon goes into a cup

with hot water on the side.

And then a last-minute addition - a parsley and tarragon emulsion.

So, this is a new element?

A new element, just added 20 minutes ago, yeah.

I think he's maybe seen the competition so far,

and had to up his game.

Next is his smoked bacon croquette

and Parmesan cigarette,

followed by his controversial cherry and chocolate explosion.

And he's ready to be judged by his fellow banquet winner.

Ca marche! Two Ration Packs please, Chef!

And fit to serve to veterans at a banquet?

Yeah, I think so. It's fun, it's tasty, it's interesting.

OK. Come on.

This is a hugely intriguing part of the dish

because it's technical,

the contents are not what you think they're going to be.

I think it tastes of corned beef.

It's really good, that is.

-It tastes nice.

-It's amazing, yeah.

Really creamy, and rich.

Just talk me through the little cigar.

The edible paper - we grate Parmesan and grate truffle,

roll it really, really tight and bake it.

-The cigarette has a nice flavour of Parmesan coming through.

-Yeah.

You had a last-minute addition to the dish. Tell us about it.

I think it just needed more acidity.

That puree that he made... See if he can win votes with it.

-Why did he do that?

-Yeah, I'm trying to sort of see.

Maybe it was because it's all quite rich. Maybe it cuts through.

What do you think the veterans will think of the chocolate?

I think they'll love it. I think it's alcoholic.

Chocolate was one of their favourite things to have in ration packs.

Quite a shock, actually, with the cherry, the rum.

And with white chocolate, you wouldn't really think that...

It's more dessert. It's beautiful.

Score your dish.

If it was below a seven or eight

I think I'd be a little disappointed.

What would you give that?

Seven.

Seven, possibly an eight.

-Here he is.

-Phew!

-How was that?

-Yeah, it's tough, isn't it?

You're standing there knowing in his mind he's going to be criticising

what you've been doing.

-We thought your dish was great.

-Fantastic.

We really enjoyed it.

Two years ago, I thought I did well with my starters and I got a four.

Hello, chefs. How are we feeling?

Anxious.

So, Frances, I'll start with your Last Orders

of beer, spam sandwich and piccalilli.

The toasted sandwich was certainly an enjoyable thing to eat.

On the negative side,

I personally found the beer jelly hard work.

The parsnip foam, I think, should have been more an infusion in cream

that is then foamed rather than just a puree.

It would have given you a slightly finer product.

But, ultimately, what we're presented on the pass

was a fantastic bit of work in terms of adherence to the brief,

but, actually, it was an unrefined plate of food.

Paul, for your Duck And Soldiers

with duck liver parfait and duck egg yolk,

I thought it was really accomplished cooking.

Lots of delicious things to eat.

The problem is when you serve all the components of a dish like that together,

you do end up with it slowly but surely turning into a gunge.

I thought the take on the brief was subtle,

but has it got enough theatre or is it show-bizzy enough

to go all the way to the banquet?

Colin, for your Modern Ration Pack of bouillon, croquette

and chocolate, with the little panna cotta with the corned beef,

about as technical as you are going to get in a competition like this

with liquid nitrogen and it was delicious.

I thought the cigarette was tasty

but not quite as crunchy as it could have been.

The herb emulsion, the last-minute addition, I think it worked.

I was absolutely sure that I was going to dislike

the chocolate component,

but I liked the fact that you were determined

to get the chocolate into your ration pack,

and I think you did a great job of it.

So, to the scores.

Frances, for your Last Orders, I am going to give you a...

..five.

Paul, for your Duck And Soldiers,

I am going to give you...

..seven points.

Colin, for your Modern Ration Pack,

I'm going to give you...

..eight points.

-I look forward to seeing the fish.

-Thank you.

Cup of tea.

I'm happy with an eight. I'm out of the blocks. I'm ahead.

Seven's a good start. It's solid.

Hopefully, I can win him over with the next dish.

Maybe get a cheeky little eight or nine.

Phil said that he would've liked to have seen more finesse.

I just need to get the next course right,

and I need to redeem myself.