Wales Judging Great British Menu

It's been a tough week for three of Wales' finest chefs.

Ah!

Young gun Andy Beaumont...

You don't get nowhere if you don't take risks, do you?

..and former military man David Kelman...

I think I nailed it this time.

..went up against returning contender Mary Ann Gilchrist...

Please!

..for the chance to cook at a banquet,

commemorating the 70th anniversary of D-Day,

at the magnificent St Paul's Cathedral.

With David ahead of the pack, yesterday's dessert course was

a closely-fought battle between Andy and Mary Ann...

-Time to pray.

-BLEEP!

..with veteran Angela Hartnett sending Andy home.

Commiserations, Andy.

Oh, baby!

Today, Mary Ann and David will go head-to-head...

I'm a little bit nervous, if I'm honest.

..cooking all four courses again.

-Oh,

-BLEEP!

And the judges expect only the best.

Given the importance of this particular dinner,

those dishes have really got to catch fire.

To make sure the menus evoke wartime memories,

is renowned war correspondent Martin Bell,

whose father's book was prized by soldiers during World War II.

This reminds them of the country they were fighting for.

The food should be amazing...

It's awful. It's awful food.

It's just perfectly judged.

..as only one chef can win the last place in the finals.

The winner is...

Second-timer Mary Ann has been trailing newcomer

David Kelman's modern and prop-heavy menu all week.

So you're working on your presentation, Mary Ann?

Well, I'm changing one or two small things,

but it's not all about presentation, it's about the flavours.

Well, I've got flavours and presentation, Mary Ann.

Ooh(!)

David's got a close personal relationship with the brief, as the

last three generations of his family all served in the armed forces.

I'm doing this for my family, my grandparents past,

who are looking down on me.

I've come this far, I've got through to the judges' chamber,

I'm not going to go home.

I want to win.

With over 40 years of experience,

Mary Ann's back cooking for the judges for a second time,

and is determined to make up for what her menu was

lacking on her first attempt.

I cooked for the judges last year, totally missed the brief.

This year, I think I've nailed it.

Judges Prue Leith, Oliver Peyton

and Matthew Fort are scrutinising the chefs' menus.

Mary Ann - it all feels a lot better this time, to me.

She seems to be on-message, so I'm willing her on today.

But she is up against David, and he has three rosettes from the AA,

and look at that - I mean, he's really thought about it.

Well, David, first time cooking for the judges, how are you feeling?

Er...a little bit nervous, if I'm honest.

You're filling me with confidence.

Good morning, chefs.

-Morning.

-Morning.

Mary Ann, are you feeling the heat?

That's probably the understatement of the week.

My interpretation of the brief is very simple -

Second World War - waste not, want not.

Very good. David, you come from military background.

Yeah, dating back from the First World War, through to the Second World War -

myself, as well, Cadets and TA as well, so...

Are you going to give Mary Ann a run for her money?

-Yes.

-LAUGHTER

Good man.

You know what? Our tummies are rumbling,

and we want some fantastic food, so good luck!

We'll do our best.

The chefs are well into cooking their starters,

a course they both got seven points for from veteran judge

Angela in the week.

We both got the same score for our starters,

so how are you feeling about that?

I think I'll be able to get it past you this time.

-You reckon?!

-Oh, yeah.

David's first up.

He's using the popular wartime meat rabbit, serving

it in a miniature hutch, as a pie with pickled veg and Welsh rarebit.

Did you take on board Angela's feedback?

Yeah, completely.

Sorted out the seasoning on the pie, more rarebit -

she wants to see more. I've addressed that.

Also scoring the dishes today is

former war correspondent Martin Bell, son of Adrian Bell,

one of the British soldiers' most-loved authors

during World War II.

Martin, I don't think that anyone here has had the personal

experience of warfare that you have.

Well, I didn't have so much experience of World War II -

I was quite young!

But I've done a lot. I've done, I think, 18 since then.

Does that give you a particular sympathy with veterans

who survived D-Day and what they had actually gone through?

Absolutely.

What they went through was much greater than I ever went through.

Did your father fight during the war?

No, he was 39 and suffering from ill health, so he fought,

sort of, indirectly, encouraging the soldiers through his books.

Because this book, Corduroy, gives a slightly idealised

view of pastoral life before the industrialisation of agriculture.

And a Penguin edition came out that the soldiers could

put in their kitbags.

So he sat in their trenches,

and he reminded them of the country they thought they were fighting for.

David begins his starter with Welsh rarebit...

which he covers with a range of pickled vegetables,

and tops with rabbit belly.

I remember what it was like when I sent my first course,

I think I was as nervous as a cat.

It is nerve-racking.

He adds water bottles of beer vinaigrette to his rabbit hutches,

before finally adding his pie to the plate.

So, so cute.

Thank you very much.

# Run rabbit, run rabbit, run, run, run

# Bang, bang, bang, bang, goes the farmer's gun

# Run rabbit, run rabbit, run, run, run... #

Well, I must say, humour is in very short supply in the competition

so far, so it is very nice to start off with a smile, at any rate.

-PRUE:

-I love the little water bottle.

MATTHEW: It's a little dressing for the salad.

You don't normally eat your first course

out of a rabbit hutch, do you?

-No.

-But quite fun when you do!

I think it's a nice little comedy thing to lighten the mood.

Of course, rabbit wasn't rationed - I had an awful lot of rabbit

when I was a kid.

MATTHEW: I think the pie is absolutely delicious.

-PRUE:

-Delicious, isn't it?

Yeah! Pie's good!

Rabbit can be quite a pallid flavour,

and this is not - this is a punchy flavour.

The pastry's perfect - very crisp and fresh at the top.

The rarebit is the bit that doesn't work for me -

it seems to be an odd texture.

It's unnecessary and, if anything, it detracts from it a bit.

-You stuck with the Welsh rarebit.

-Yeah.

To be honest, I didn't see the point of it.

Do you think this is a suitable dish of the banquet

and how do you think the veterans will react to it?

I think they will react with total astonishment.

Whether it's suitable, let's see what else we have.

OLIVER LAUGHS

Next up is Mary Ann, who's had a setback.

So what was that, Mary Ann?

You've got to make some more pastry, have you?

-I think so. This is just too

-BLEEP

-short.

It's unmanageable.

Her Lord Woolton pie is inspired by the wartime original.

It's named after the Minister of Food who promoted the recipe,

as it didn't contain meat, which was in short supply.

That's better.

She fills her shortcrust pies with a root vegetable

and cauliflower mix, then bakes them.

They go onto new blue plates to rest,

and she adds parsley sauce to a jug on the side.

Angela said the dish was too simple for the Great British Menu.

Do you think just by putting the sauce in a jug and changing

it to a blue plates has elevated it enough for St Paul's Cathedral?

I wasn't prepared to change my basic premise.

I have a terrible habit of sticking to my guns.

Well done.

PRUE: It's veggie pie, isn't it? Cos it's Woolton pie.

Lord Woolton, he was Minister for Food.

Basically, it was root vegetables in a pie,

because the meat was so difficult to get.

I actually think the pie tastes very nice.

This is at least as good as the rabbit pie.

It tastes delicious, but surely you're using up

a lot of your precious butter coupons to make it, aren't you?

Well, that's the 21st-century bit.

MARTIN: It's really beautiful pastry,

and the vegetables are surprisingly light and almost airy.

I'm staggered really.

Lots of parsley - lovely.

Have I got parsley in my teeth?

-Loads.

-Thank you.

I don't think it's got enough razzmatazz to it, in a way.

Can you really see this at the banquet?

Do you know? I can!

I can see it at the banquet.

It's austerity cooking but done in a very lavish and luxurious way -

I think it would make a great starter.

The fish course is next.

Mary Ann's used to contain herring - a fish she usually avoids.

You're not eating, Mary Ann?

Herring disagrees with me.

But because she didn't taste her dish, she under-seasoned it,

losing points.

I shouldn't have cooked a fish I don't eat.

Today, she's decided to cook mackerel instead,

but the mackerel that's arrived isn't up to her standards.

I'm...er, not a happy bunny,

but I'm not prepared to cook second-rate produce.

More mackerel is on the way,

but it's not certain if it'll make it to the kitchen in time.

Complete nightmare for Mary Ann.

Has the fish arrived, by any chance?

OK. I haven't got long, sweetheart.

I wouldn't like to be in that position myself.

Luckily for Mary Ann, David's up first.

His dish honours the trawlermen who caught fish during the war -

he's cooking fried sea bass and mussel croquettes,

with a squid ink mine, and a potato net.

On the side, he's serving a brown shrimp chowder.

So, after Angela's comments. Have you made any changes?

Well, this is the one she said, "Less is more."

Oh, yes, that's right.

So what I've done is reduce it down,

took a few of the components away and made it nice and small.

David starts his plate with samphire and mangetout.

Then adds his mussel croquette, pan-fried sea bass...

This is really looking absolutely stunning.

..and potato net.

Next, his squid ink mine.

Finally, the brown shrimp chowder in shells completes his dish.

There we go.

Thanks very much.

"During the war, our trawlermen risked their lives to bring

"food to the table."

I think that's a fair point, because the front lines were also out in the

Atlantic - not just the trawlermen, but the merchant marines.

The loss of life in shipping was quite appalling -

it was the nation's lifeline.

There's an awful lot going on here - the little lacework of potato,

the sea bass with the crunchy vegetables.

You know, it's... It's like an orchestra...

-It is.

-..warming up, but they're slightly discordant.

I don't quite see the harmony emerging from all of this.

It's how I wanted it.

I think just bringing it down a portion size, for me, perfect.

It is absolutely delicious that chowder.

I actually think it's not, I think it's over-seasoned.

I think you two are being really unkind.

The only thing that doesn't work is the squid ink ball,

not because it looks like a land mine, which is

perhaps a bit tasteless, but it is actually tasteless.

I think it's the only dish I've ever tasted in my entire life which

manages to be tasty and tasteless at the same time.

Mary Ann, the mackerel's arrived.

Oh, sweetheart, it's too late, I'll never get it done.

But Mary Ann has no option but to try.

She's serving mackerel three ways, with bacon, pickled cucumber,

fried breadcrumbs and beetroot-filled pastry boats,

all arranged to represent the D-Day landings.

-Oh,

-BLEEP!

The pressure soon starts to show.

Overcooked.

-I'm not having a good day.

-Have you got any more pickle?

I can make it, it doesn't take a tick.

I'll sort that out for you.

I'm hoping to God that nothing else goes wrong.

I've burnt my toast, I've overcooked the mackerel -

if anything else goes wrong, that's it.

With David's assistance, she's ready to plate up in the nick of time...

starting with white toast.

Then she makes a breadcrumb beach...

..with pickled cucumber waves...

..before adding mackerel roe...

..beetroot boats...

What else shall I do, Mary Ann?

I'm all right now. Thank you.

..mackerel fried with oatmeal, bacon, and last but not least,

the rescued soused mackerel, saved with David's help.

There we go.

-Don't worry.

-Star.

One of the things about Mary Ann is she seems to treat each

course as if it's the entire dinner!

Yeah, it's much too much.

There is a vast amount of food here.

Gosh...

Oh, that mackerel has no flavour.

No seasoning.

The bacon is clumsy and not very nice.

The whole dish is terrible, there's nothing good about this.

A great deal of talent and technique in that first course,

and then to serve up this is just...irritating, frankly.

Can you mop my brow, please?

It's awful. It's awful food.

Martin, you're peering at your dish with a mixture of disbelief

and horror.

Sometimes you find a dish which would be a pity to disturb it.

THEY LAUGH

Two courses down, two to go -

the chefs have reached the halfway point.

I'm living in hope that there aren't going to be any more disasters.

BLEEP!

I think that Mary Ann is really struggling.

I don't think it's all over. Mary Ann has only lost, really, on her fish dish.

I don't think David's got it in the bag.

He's been Mr Consistent

but Mr Consistent is not always the one who gallops home with the prize.

Mary Ann's next with her austerity wartime supper.

For her main, she's serving rabbit stew with bubble and squeak

and Swiss chard, which scored another seven in the week,

as Angela found the rabbit to be dry.

My main problem was that I didn't braise the rabbit for long enough.

Yeah.

-Here they are.

-Good afternoon.

-Is it very nerve-racking for you?

It is indeed, yeah. Very, very nerve-racking.

-You're the one with military connections.

-I am indeed, yes.

This dapper fellow, this is my dad, and when the war was over,

we found, in one of his drawers,

an envelope stuffed with letters from prisoner of war camps,

telling him that this reminded them

of the country they were fighting for.

Then, of course, I got off into the old war zones myself.

I was going to say - you've seen a lot of conflict yourself.

This is a younger Martin Bell.

I feel more comfortable in a war zone than in your judging chamber -

it gets pretty tense out there.

I would say the lead has changed.

Anyway, this is a game of two halves, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Yes.

-And so anything can happen...

-Yeah.

-..and will.

To finish her rabbit stew, Mary Ann tops with fresh parsley.

She adds her bubble and squeak to a matching enamel dish,

along with the Swiss chard.

It's all served with a wartime staple - a nice cup of tea.

There we go.

Happy?

Well, I got it right.

-Yes!

-I've got the bubble and squeak and you've got the stew.

Bubble and squeak - this plays to one of my weaknesses.

This is the sort of dish that makes you want to start singing

Keep The Home-Fires Burning, isn't it?

OLIVER: Well, the taste is good.

And it's been beautifully stewed.

The bubble and squeak is the best I've ever had.

It's a very individual thing, what you pine after

when you're abroad.

Mine were bubble and squeak and Marmite.

How interesting.

I think it's good enough for the banquet.

Good luck, eh?

Come on - who needs luck?! Tastes delicious.

If I had this at home, I'd be so happy and so pleased,

and I think I could have it at home, and that's my problem with it.

I do not think that this is a dish

which is suitable for a grand banquet.

OLIVER: Why?

That is not just any old rabbit stew,

it's just perfectly judged.

-MARTIN:

-I think she's excelled herself.

I think it ain't over...

until the lady has done her rabbit stew and of course,

the fact that there are proper bubble and squeak.

How are you doing?

Getting there.

David's main course is inspired by his grandmother, who worked

in a munitions factory during the war and sadly passed away recently.

So you think your nan is watching over you today?

Yeah, she'll be proud of me, I think.

She's always there.

He's taken her favourite foreign ingredients from after the war and

combined them into an elaborate and unusual chicken and banana curry.

Angela scored it an impressive nine,

with her only criticism being that it was over-complicated.

So have you taken anything off this dish?

Taken away the little buttered onions and the tomatoes.

Good.

David starts his munitions plate with carrot puree...

..minted cucumber and butternut squash.

His chicken-wrapped banana is topped with a quail-egg onion bhaji.

On the side, he's serving chicken jus.

"In 1939, the government acquired Rhydymwyn Valley Works

"in Flintshire to manufacture munitions for the war effort.

"At the age of 18,

"my grandmother was one of the 2,000 workers at Rhydymwyn.

"After the war and until her death at 92 years old,

"one of her favourite foods was bananas."

I was a bit apprehensive when I seen the word "banana" on his menu.

In actual fact, I think it's been a triumph - particularly

-when you put the sauce on it.

-This here, is one of the best gravies we've had.

Yes. Love the potatoes. I think it's a very clever dish.

I love the skin.

Mm.

SKIN CRUNCHES

-Just delicious.

-I think I nailed it this time.

Good for you!

This is the kind of curry you found after the war,

after rationing had ended.

Do you remember the end of rationing and your first banana?

I do and I wasn't quite sure how to unwrap it

cos I hadn't seen one before - I was about seven at the time.

It was absolutely wonderful.

PRUE: Do you like it, Martin?

There are so many different meals in one here that I think

it's a little bit too fancy for me, but it's the best Scotch egg,

or should I say Indian egg, that I've ever tasted.

I actually prefer the bubble and squeak, you see!

THEY LAUGH

Next up is Mary Ann with her dessert.

To evoke nostalgic memories,

she's serving a classic post-war favourite -

queen of puddings with raspberry ripple ice cream in a tuile basket.

Angel scored it a seven yesterday.

Mary Ann's queen of puddings is first on the plate...

These have come out beautifully.

..then a dab of meringue to place her tuile basket on.

Next, it's a raspberry coulis...

and finally, her raspberry ripple ice cream.

When I tasted your ice cream, it tasted a little bit split to me.

Did you try and rectify that?

I managed to get past that.

It's real ice cream as opposed to that dreadful lardy stuff

that you were able to get during the war.

Raspberries at the back of the plate, please.

Do you think it's fitting for the banquet?

Oh, God, yes!

I think the veterans will lap it up.

Looks like a perfect queen's pud, I must say.

That's as good a queen of puddings as you're likely to come across.

What the raspberries bring is tartness,

which such a sweet pudding needs.

And the little tuile gives you crunch,

which you don't have anywhere else.

I think it's perfectly judged.

As far as I am capable of doing anything really, really well,

I was absolutely thrilled to bits with my pudding.

I'm very pro-Mary Ann.

She may have let herself down on one of the courses -

this is fantastic.

I would say, a queen of puddings from a queen of cooks.

Last up is David.

What are you doing there?

It's only a little bit of a Union Jack to go on the dessert.

Right.

His Remembrance-themed dessert includes lemon mousse

on a raspberry sponge, with a brandy snap, lemon curd and ice cream.

He scored a near-perfect nine from Angela, who, again, thought

it was too complicated, and that his poppy should be red, not purple.

I'm so glad you changed to a red poppy,

it's so much more appropriate, I have to say.

Next on his plate is lemon curd.

Then he adds his poppy brandy snap,

lemon and poppy seed shortbread biscuit, raspberry gel,

lemon mousse on raspberry sponge...

I think it'll wow them.

..and finally, evaporated milk ice cream,

topped with a new addition of a white chocolate Union Jack flag.

Angela kept saying less is more,

and now you're adding another element!

HE CHUCKLES

Cool.

I think this looks great.

-MATTHEW:

-I'm not quite so sure.

It's a creation - is it a pudding?

I don't know, we'll see. Let's taste it.

The ice cream's lovely.

-MATTHEW:

-I've always wanted to eat a Union Jack!

-Mm.

-That's a rather good one - it's made of white chocolate.

Oh, it is!

-PRUE:

-I don't think the mousse is very good.

It's a bit grainy.

-PRUE:

-I don't like the concentrated raspberry gel - it's too strong.

I don't think the raspberries are necessary.

-MATTHEW:

-What's the lemon curd doing there?

That lemon curd is totally unnecessary.

Exactly how I wanted it served.

The perfect end to the perfect banquet.

He's obviously a person who has learnt his craft very well -

it's technically great, but it slightly falls down, for me.

Sort of gone over the top, sort of lost it.

I would have thought that the queen of puddings would have

a place in this, in the sense that this mishmash doesn't.

-Oh, I'm

-BLEEP

-glad that's over!

One of the most impressive things about Mary Ann,

the last competition, she completely failed to understand the brief,

whereas this time, she clearly had it and she'd taken it to heart.

-I put my heart and soul into it.

-Yeah.

-As you did, I know.

Oh, God, yeah.

David did a fantastic job.

He comes from a military family,

and I think all of that really helped him go for it and nail the brief.

We each interpreted the brief quite differently.

I think so. I think so.

Two completely different styles of cooking -

one is technique-orientated and the other is cooking from the heart.

Well, welcome, chefs.

What sort of week has it been?

-A nightmare.

-Nightmare?

-Yip!

-David?

Erm...roller coaster for me - emotions, stress.

It's something that's really close to my heart, with the family -

it's something I feel really strongly about.

We had some really good dishes,

we had the odd dish which wasn't brilliant,

but I'm sure that you want to know is which

one of you is going to represent Wales in finals.

And so I'm going to tell you that the winner is...

-..David.

-Yes!

I told you!

Thank you very much!

Seriously, that means a lot to me.

Your chicken and banana curry, we absolutely loved it.

I gave it a ten.

OLIVER: I also gave it a ten - terrific dish.

Oh, good.

Mary Ann, I'm so sorry, you were so close.

The only problem was the fish course.

The flavours just didn't work.

I'm not surprised.

I was fairly certain I'd screwed that one up anyway!

Mary Ann, I was rooting for you all the way -

that's why it was as close as it was.

-I think you're a complete star.

-Thank you, Martin.

Congratulations, David, and commiserations, Mary Ann.

Thank you all very much.

Thank you.

Yes!

I know I didn't win,

but most of it's about the competing

and I had a whale of a week.

SCREAMING ON TELEPHONE

-'We're so proud!'

-Thanks a lot, Mum.

-'Are you chuffed?'

-Yeah, I'm absolutely bowled over.

Thrilled for you, I really am.

Thank you very much.

Next week, it's the finals,

as the regional champions go head-to-head...

Serious pressure here.

..to impress not only the judges...

-I think this is boring.

-Hold the front page - "What a shocker."

-..but their fellow-chefs...

-The beef is really tough.

-BLEEP!

-The sauce is very creamy.

I think it's fantastic, absolutely delicious.

..and special banquet guests...

I'm really hoping I can give tens to everything.

..to make the shortlist for the final banquet menu.

Champagne for everybody!

THEY CHEER AND LAUGH