Northern Ireland Main Great British Menu

This week, three of Northern Ireland's best chefs.

Hopefully no schoolboy errors today.

Returning finalist Raymond McArdle...

Every element has to be really, really right.

..Richard Corrigan's protege Chris McGowan...

Not what I need right now, no. Definitely not what I need.

And eager young newcomer Will Brown...

Let's just wait to see and find out.

..are going head-to-head to get their dishes to a banquet

commemorating the 70th anniversary of D-Day

at the iconic St Paul's Cathedral.

Yesterday's fish course saw Chris triumph.

I can see that going onto a D-Day banquet.

-But once again, Will...

-Excuse me.

-..failed to impress.

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

Today it's the main cause and Raymond's going all-out

to keep his lead over his rivals.

I've got lots of little elements in it

and I really need to pull them all together.

But will last year's regional champ let the pressure get to him?

Where's all my pickle gear?

Where did you put my casserole?

I think he's left it out. Yeah, he has.

It was two little squares of horseradish.

And it's disappointing.

This June, the nation will commemorate 70 years

since the D-Day landings,

a momentous World War II battle on the beaches of Normandy.

The chefs have been tasked with creating patriotic dishes

-to honour the brave heroes who fought for our freedom.

-Wow!

And they've researched how their communities

were affected by the war.

You've got one of those in your 24-hour ration pack,

-which is one per day.

-One per day.

Judging the chefs all week is two-time winner

and two Michelin starred pub chef Tom Kerridge.

I've been very fortunate myself to have cooked at the banquet twice.

Both times doing the main course.

So I'm really looking for something special today.

I really hope they've lifted their game

and I'm going to be looking for eights, nines and tens scores today.

This is the big day. Main course.

For me, it's just about keeping that momentum now.

-If I don't do well, I'm going home.

-A good score will get you back in the race.

A high score will get me back in and hopefully I can achieve that.

First up is currant leader Raymond McArdle,

who reached the finals last year.

He started the week strongly, but scored only

a six for his fish course, putting him one point ahead of Chris.

I've got a really strong main course. A lot going on.

I just really want to knock it out of the park this year

and set a good standard.

I just need to nail everything perfect.

-One point in the lead.

-Yeah. It's nothing really, is it?

-So, what's your inspiration for your dish today?

-I'm doing two dishes.

One for the officer and one for the soldier.

For the officers the nice, fancy cut of meat, char-grilled.

Sirloin. And then what else have we got?

-I'm going to do some oxtail hash.

-OK.

-And here we have brisket.

-Brisket.

I took the idea from, you know, wartime bully beef.

So what are we serving all the beef with?

I'm doing a horseradish milk and clamped vegetables,

something my grower does for me.

-Clamped vegetables?

-Yeah, I've got some here.

OK. So, when you dig up the vegetables,

in order to keep their shelf life,

he clamps them in moist sand and it will hold for a couple of months

and they actually mature a lot better.

-And that improves flavour?

-Yeah.

Ray's dish, Officers' Mess,

looks like he's got some fantastic ingredients.

But the issues are, are they going to be two separate dishes?

Can he marry the two dishes together?

This will be where Ray can show his skills off

or he can fall by the wayside.

Next up, trailing Raymond by just one point is Richard Corrigan's

head chef Chris McGowan. His menu, inspired by wartime slogans,

saw him struggle with his starter but yesterday,

he beat his rivals with a strong eight for his fish course.

Obviously, everybody would love to get the main course to the banquet.

I'm no different.

I'm looking forward to showcasing my skills

and producing something that, hopefully, Tom will find amazing.

-Chris, what is your dish called?

-The Pig Club.

-The Pig Club.

And what does that mean? Where does that come from?

It comes from a wartime slogan,

it was a government initiative of the day.

"Save kitchen waste to feed the pigs."

Government funded and then when they went to slaughter,

the government took half and half of them back into the community

so it was kind of generating a food source for the country

-and also for the local community.

-OK.

-So, we have a suckling pig.

-Yeah.

And how are we going to cook this?

I'm going to give you the little rack so you can have a lovely little

double bone chop with a lovely piece of crackling on the back of it.

You're going to have a piece of the shoulder or the leg.

I'm going to make my own black pudding.

-You're going to make your own black pudding?

-Yeah.

-Is that a risk?

-I don't think so. It's something I'm kind of known for.

-And an onion.

What are we going to do with the onion, Chris?

-I'm going to do onion ash.

-Onion ash.

-Yeah. Onion ash.

-So you are going to burn an onion?

-Well, it's like an ash.

It looks like ash on the plate.

If I deliver this the way I know I can, I think it would be amazing.

It's a homage to the pig, really.

Chris's dish, The Pig Club.

His dish sounds great, simple cooking.

And it's pork - one of my favourite things ever.

On the downside, it is pork and I know how to get pork to the banquet

so I'm going to be looking for something super special.

Finally, in last place is determined new recruit Will Brown.

So far, he's been late to the pass with his dishes

and marked down by Tom for overcomplicating his starter

and fish courses, scoring just four for each.

The main course is all or nothing.

I have to get a great score to get back in the running.

-Morning, Will. How are you?

-Good to see you.

Disappointed about the last two days but it's all still to play for.

Still two days left, so I'm looking forward to getting started.

Concentrating on getting the key elements right.

-The key element, which is my fantastic rabbit.

-OK.

-What's the dish called?

-The dish is called Run Rabbit Run.

-Run Rabbit Run.

-Yes.

-OK.

-We're making a little truffle mousse

and we're rolling the rabbit in carrot.

-So we've got some truffles.

-Just through the rabbit.

-Love truffles.

-Also, we are going to make a croustillant of leg. OK.

-So, a nice crispy element to the dish.

-A nice bit of texture, yes.

And we've got some big celeriac here.

What are we going to do with this celeriac?

We're just going to make a light froth,

-just to bring the croustillant together.

-OK.

So, very clean flavours.

With regards to this dish, this dish is very clean.

-Not as much going on from the last two days.

-Phew!

I'm just concentrating on the main product,

and that is obviously the rabbit.

Will's dish, Run Rabbit Run.

By the sound of it, he's going to be Run Will Run.

I just wish he could concentrate

on getting that beautiful rabbit cooked perfectly.

That will get him the high scores.

When it comes to the main course,

all three chefs know they need to deliver. None more so than Will.

I'm really going to go for it today, you know what I mean?

-I have to step up to the mark.

-You need an eight or a ten.

Big-time. Big-time.

Eager newcomer Will is hoping to put his disastrous

low-scoring starter and fish courses behind him

with his complex Run Rabbit Run main course.

You know, it's just about me executing it the right way. On time.

Making sure everything is cooked properly.

There's no room for error here.

He's making rabbit three ways -

a loin, a technical croustillant and an unusual lollipop.

But he has been warned by Tom to make his dishes simpler.

What have we got here?

That's just a bit of potato string around my pastry

and I'm going to deep fry it.

And there will be a little bit of the leg inside that.

A few other ingredients.

Most important thing for me is that it's clean.

And make sure every element that goes on the plate -

even if you're putting all of them on - is perfect, Chef.

I will do, sure. Time will tell.

-Come on, chief. Keep that energy up.

-Thanks, Chef.

He's doing another risky dish today, rabbit.

I think rabbit can go absolutely swimmingly or just horribly wrong.

Richard Corrigan's head chef Chris is cooking suckling pig

nose to tail, using the shoulder,

legs and loin for his main, The Pig Club.

He's hoping to capitalise on the high score

for his fish course yesterday.

Wouldn't it be great if we could get a Northern Ireland main course

-at the banquet?

-It would be fantastic.

Do you think we've done enough here to celebrate good dishes?

I think so. I mean, they are all quality ingredients.

All I can see so far is fantastic produce everywhere

so it stands a great chance of having three great dishes today.

Last year's Northern Ireland champ Raymond narrowly missed out

on a banquet place so is going all out for his two-part main course

- Officers' Mess -

of beef sirloin for the officers and brisket for the soldiers.

It's my busiest dish. Every element has to be really, really right.

It's two dishes in one. Is that going to be quite a lot?

I have the portions weighed out as if it was one dish so, no.

It's difficult enough getting one dish,

one plate of food up absolutely perfect, never mind two.

So I think there is pitfalls in that, definitely.

Accompanying Raymond's dish are clamped baby vegetables,

an old-fashioned technique for preserving veg in moist sand

with the added benefit of developing their favour.

Will. And I was worried about how much work YOU have to do.

This poor man is doing two main courses in one.

I had to take that risk.

I mean, officers apparently ate in ballrooms and ate really well

and on nice china and the troops are stuck in a hedge somewhere.

So I wanted to tell two stories.

To research his main course, Officers' Mess,

Raymond travelled to Ballymena to find out

just what soldiers in the field ate during the Second World War.

There he met up with Armed Forces enthusiasts

Stephen Templeton, Neil Armstrong and Gary Campbell.

-Hi, fellas.

-Hi, Ray. Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you guys.

So, what's with the uniforms?

We are members of the Wartime Living History Association.

Basically, we exist to educate and commemorate all forces

that fought during the Second World War from beginning to end.

As you can see today, we are dressed as members of the British Airborne.

Basically, this is the kind of stuff they would have worn on the day

when they would have been taken in by parachute or by landing glider.

During the War,

each soldier would have been supplied with a daily ration pack.

You needed high-calorie foods

so this is a reproduction of the 24-hour ration pack.

Tea, oatmeal, malt extract and corned beef.

So, that was known as bully beef.

It doesn't look very appetising.

I'm thinking that's inedible.

-OK. Are you ready to try some of this?

-I can't wait!

THEY LAUGH

-It needs a bit of salt.

-THEY LAUGH

Having tried the type of bully or corned beef that would

have likely fuelled the troops during the D-Day campaign,

Raymond was keen to find out

if his 21st-century brisket version would pass muster.

-It's actually better than I thought.

-That's good.

There's a really nice colour on that meat and it's seasoned nicely.

The vegetables are colouring nicely.

You try that, guys, and you tell me.

-I like that.

-That's incredible. It pulls away.

So, do you want to compare with the bully beef that you

-cooked for me this morning?

-No!

No, no, no. Fine with this.

You are spoilt! Have you spoilt already.

It really brings it home for you that they had one hot meal a day

and it could be the same every day.

And it could be their last meal.

And it brings it into perspective about what the competition is about.

Praying for a top score, Raymond has a lot to do

including his oxtail hash and horseradish milk,

intended to go with both the officers' sirloin

and the soldiers' brisket parts of his beef dish.

I've got lots of little elements and I really need to pull them

all together and you need everything right for Tom.

He's been to the banquet twice

so you don't want to be serving him any rubbish today.

Just one point behind Raymond is Richard Corrigan's head chef Chris.

Raymond can do what he wants. I'm not worried about what he's doing.

I want to win this course today.

I want to make sure that whenever I come in tomorrow,

looking for the dessert, that I'm in the lead.

His main course - The Pig Club -

of suckling pig and black pudding contains a controversial ingredient.

-Just putting together the onion ash.

-The onion ash.

Let me have a little look at this. I'm dubious about this.

Really? Really?

The idea of burning something and making it into ash

and then serving it is a little bit lost on me.

It's just a little sprinkling.

It's an enhancer, almost just to enhance.

Determined newcomer Will is five points behind Chris.

A high score today will keep him in the running.

He's moved onto his rabbit loin with truffle mousse.

I'm just concentrating on flavours. Flavours, techniques.

But he's gone against Tom's advice to keep it simple

and as well as doing rabbit three ways,

he's using props in his presentation.

Hopefully he will enjoy my dish cos if he doesn't, I'm going home.

Prop-wise it looks fantastic.

Food-wise, let's hope it lives up to the props.

Last year's finalist Raymond is plating up first

with his Officers' Mess beef main.

a complex two-part dish, putting him under considerable pressure.

Where is my peas, Dave?

And where is all my pickle gear?

Where did you put my casserole? My casserole pot was sitting there.

He starts his officers' plate with oxtail hash,

peas and ale cooked onions.

Gave yourself a lot to do with that, Ray, didn't you?

I think he's a bit too busy to talk.

Raymond slices his beef sirloin for the officers' part of his dish.

Next it is the beef brisket for the soldiers' element,

along with his clamped vegetable stew.

Finally, a mushroom sauce is drizzled over the officers' plate

and his two-part main is ready.

-Is this a victorious main course for you, Chef?

-I certainly hope so.

-So, this and this is a portion.

-It is.

-What do you think, chaps?

-Looks great. Yeah.

I'm going to take the officers' bit because I'm feeling posh today.

You can take these soldiers' bit and follow me

and I will let you two chaps fight over that.

So, we've got two dishes here. I don't know which one to start with.

So, Ray, as one dish, do you think the balance is right

-as one plate of food?

-I think it works well together.

-I think it does.

-That is a big portion of meat.

I'm six foot six and I couldn't finish that.

So, this piece of brisket for you. Not too dry? Not too moist?

I think it's... The inside of it is really nice and moist.

-Is this one of those clamped vegetables?

-Yeah.

Do you think that flavour is perhaps too powerful?

I think it's really turnipy.

For me, the clamped veg hasn't added anything to the dish.

I totally agree. I think it's a lot of smoke over nothing.

You are quite happy with the cook on the pink piece of beef here?

-It is rested enough for you?

-Tom, I had five minutes.

It got five minutes. I'll be honest.

The beef itself, there is good flavour of it

but borderline resting time.

The hash, for me, is the best bit, if I was being brutally honest.

It's got that depth of flavour that you're looking for.

Wasn't there meant to be horseradish somewhere?

Boom. It's not on the plate.

I think he's left it out. He has.

I was under severe pressure.

But that's Great British Menu, isn't it?

I think it is Ray's weakest dish so far.

Difficult to understand what way you're going with it.

What would you mark this out of ten

-and what would you mark this out of ten?

-You can't do that, Chef!

It's two different main courses, no?

-How did you get on, Ray? All right?

-I left one of the elements off.

-The horseradish cream?

-It's just the pressure, isn't it?

Tough one, Ray. A tough one, all right.

Five points adrift of Chris is Will.

He needs a top score today and is confident he's got everything

under control for the first time this week.

-I'll start my watch now.

-I'm bang on time.

Go for it.

First on the plate is his rabbit loin,

stuffed with truffle mousse,

and his rabbit croustillant.

How are we doing, Will?

Coming now?

Next, it's his quirky rabbit lollipop.

His carrot puree goes on the plate.

Followed by a celeriac foam.

Then it's baby leeks.

And his rabbit sauce decanted into wartime flasks.

It's all served up in a helmet.

-There we have it, Chef.

-Run Rabbit Run!

-Yeah.

You were certainly running around at the end, Will.

Sweating a wee bit, yeah.

Right, then, chaps, you boys can crack on with that.

-I'll open the door for you.

-Cheers.

What do you think, presentation-wise?

-I think it's fantastic-looking.

-It looks great, doesn't it?

-I love the colours and the box...

-Just the whole thing, yeah.

-But is one person going to get this?

-They'll need a big table!

We'll get it in there, shall we?

So what have we got here?

This is just rabbit legs wrapped in potato string.

And the crispiness of the croustillant?

The leg, when it came out of the fire, was crispy.

It could be a bit crunchier.

That's really nice, actually. It's nicely seasoned.

A nice, crispy texture with the softness of the meat inside.

And the puree?

I think it's spot-on, Chef.

-What is it?

-Carrot.

-Carrot?

-Yeah.

-And this is the main part, the rabbit loin, yeah?

-Yeah.

-And that has black truffle through it?

-Yeah.

-Can you taste the black truffle enough?

-I can taste it, yeah.

I suppose it's a quieter taste.

-RAY:

-The rabbit loin is beautifully cooked, isn't it?

Yeah, it's absolutely perfect. Absolutely perfect.

-So do you feel you've embraced the brief with this dish?

-I hope so.

Concentrating on the main flavour

is what you've been saying in the last two days.

And I believe I've achieved that today.

-What would you score it, Ray?

-I'd score him a seven.

I'd give him an eight for that. I really do think it's that good.

-How are you getting on, Chris?

-Good, mate.

More importantly, how are you?

-Time will tell.

-Yeah.

-He doesn't give anything away.

What's your feeling on the dish?

I was happy with my dish,

just looking forward to see what Chef has to say about it.

This course.

Last to plate up is Chris with his main, the Pig Club.

For the first time this week he's using props in his presentation.

He's organised and has everything under control.

The chops are ready, resting, the shoulder's in there,

-the bone marrow's in there.

-How's your black pudding?

Black pudding - good man! Good man...

Will...

The legend!

You didn't remind me about my horseradish, did you, Will?

WILL LAUGHS

He starts his plate with onion puree followed by bone marrow.

Next on, it's pork shoulder and roasted carrots.

He adds spring onion and the controversial onion ash.

Then his black pudding.

It's like a meat feast.

-WILL:

-A bit more delicate than a meat feast, you know.

Pork chops go on next.

Finally, he pours his sauce into mini saucepans.

Looks like blood, sweat and tears has gone into this one, chief.

-There's a lot of love there.

-A lot of love there.

-Well, I'll take my ration book.

-As a memento.

-Thank you very much.

And a little saucepan of sauce. You bring a plate.

Chaps, you get on with that.

You finally decided to start using props.

That is a traditional, authentic ration book for Mr Tom Kerridge.

Thank you very much! My pleasure.

It's a menu card. Nice touch, eh?

-So this is your home-made black pudding.

-Yeah.

-Flavour-wise, that's OK for you?

-Yeah, it's not too spicy.

You get the mace, but it's not too salty. The flavour's there.

What do you think of the home-made black pudding?

I think it's an explosion of flavours when it goes in your mouth.

I'm really enjoying it.

The shoulders and legs. That's cooked enough for you?

The shoulders were cooked for two and a half and the legs for about three hours, 15.

-And then you crisped it up?

-No.

-Cut it out of the pan?

-Mm-hm.

So it's proper crackling.

-Then we have the onion here and the onion ash.

-Yeah.

Does that work for you?

I don't think it's technique over substance,

I think it does add flavour to that onion puree

when you use both of them together in a little button onion.

I liked it. It gives it that wee kick.

I thought it would just taste burnt or something.

Does this celebrate the best of British?

I think so.

People would be more than happy to eat something that somebody

had crafted like that for them.

-What score would you give this?

-I would give it a solid eight.

I'd agree. He's done really well on this, and fair play to him

because he worked hard for it.

How did you get on?

I gave it everything I had, guys.

-You certainly did.

-Yeah.

I think we all want to get to Friday.

And we all want to face the judges.

Yeah.

How are we doing, boys? Main course over.

OK.

Ray, I'm going to start off with you and your Officers' Mess.

I loved your thinking of the dish. You really hit the brief for me.

On the officers' plate, the oxtail hash was fantastic.

The herby crust on the top and the potato worked really, really well.

And the soldiers' mess tin, the brisket, I thought was stunning.

Really big, powerful flavours coming through.

That turnip really packed a punch.

I know you forgot the horseradish milk. It didn't matter.

The dish was great.

However, it was way too much going on.

Most of all, the biggest problem I had with that dish is it was massive.

You only need to have one of those dishes.

I just can't see people eating two main courses at a banquet.

Will.

For your Run Rabbit Run...

The idea of using rabbit from wartime is great.

The presentation was fantastic.

It was completely in keeping with the dish.

However...

..some of the flavour was lacking. It wasn't quite there.

The croustillant itself wasn't quite crispy enough

and the sauce in the bottle was just a little watery and lacked depth.

However...

you were very focused. It was a great bit of cooking today.

You've done yourself proud.

Thank you, Tom.

Chris.

The Pig Club.

It really chimed with that wartime approach to cooking,

using the whole of the animal.

Nose-to-tail eating. Make sure every little bit is used.

The black pudding, for me...

..was very special. It was just stunning.

It was a wonderful bit of cooking.

Loads of great flavours going on on the plate. But there were errors.

I found the burnt onion ash way too bitter. Strong aftertaste.

When we're cooking pork, we have to get crackling.

The crackling has to be right.

The problem with the shoulder was the skin was soft and rubbery.

It was lost.

So the scores.

Ray...

..for your Officers' Mess...

..I'm giving you...

..seven out of ten.

Will.

..For your Run Rabbit Run, I'm giving you...

..seven out of ten.

This is by far your best dish so far this week.

Chris.

For the Pig Club.

I'm giving you...

..seven out of ten.

Guys, they was some great cooking today, but overall,

a few schoolboy errors have let you down across the way.

It's pastry course next. Dessert day.

And this is every chef's downfall. Good luck tomorrow, guys.

ALL: Thanks.

Well done. Brilliant. Ray, well done.

With three courses done, Raymond retains his one-point lead

over Chris, while Will still trails

a further five points behind.

I'm still happy to be in the lead,

and hopefully I'm still in the lead at the end of the pudding.

Anything could happen. I mean, really anything could happen.

It would have been nice to get a ten, but I'll take the seven.

If you fall, you fall. If you don't, you don't.

Tomorrow we just have to totally go for it.

I've got to take a positive from it.

Hopefully, tomorrow I can push on and claw this back.

Tomorrow, the Northern Irish contenders fight it out for dessert.

-It's very colourful!

-A bit like myself!

It's their last chance to impress Tom...

The jelly is just melting on this board.

Would it be fair to say you're feeling the heat?

..before one chef is sent home.

Commiserations.