Great British Menu 2011 – North West
North East : N. Ireland : North West : Central : South West : Scotland : Wales : South East
Jason 'Bruno' Birkbeck, Lisa Allen, Marcus Wareing and Johnnie Mountain
Lisa Allen
Head Chef at Northcote in Lancashire.
Lisa Allen returns to the Great British Menu following her success last year when she was chosen to cook her starter of wild rabbit & leek turnover with piccalilli at the end of series banquet. The young chef has been working in high-end restaurants for the last 11 years, starting off her career straight from college as a commis chef at Michelin Starred Holbeck Ghyll before moving to Cheltenham’s Le Champignon Sauvage (another Michellin star holder, with two stars). Lisa moved to Northcote when offered a job as a chef de partie by owner Nigel Haworth; within a few years she was promoted to Head Chef where she has remained and now holds her own Michelin star.
Jason “Bruno” Birkbeck
Head Chef at The Torridon
Having worked at a number of restaurants around the UK, Bruno Birkbeck also worked at Northcote where he became a sous chef, won the British Young Chef of the Year (2001) and met his future wife. The chefs next position was at The Samling Hotel where he worked with chef Chris Meredith to earn the restaurant both a Michelin star and three AA rosettes. Bruno then moved on to become head chef at country house hotel Hipping Hall – once again earning the restaurant three AA rosettes. Bruno now works with Emma at The Torridon where, working with local suppliers, he serves up first class food to the hotel patrons and diners.
Johnnie Mountain
Chef Patron at Mosaica at The Factory in Wood Green and The English Pig in Farringdon
Charismatic chef Johnnie Mountain also has an impressive career as a chef stretching over twenty years including working at well known restaurants such as Mirabelle, Zilli Fish and Heston Blumenthal’s restaurant The Fat Duck before going on to open his own restaurants in London – Mosaica in 2000. Ten years later, he opened his second restaurant, The English Pig where, amongst other things, he serves up his constantly evolving signature dish centred around slow-roasted pork belly.
Marcus Wareing (guest mentor & judge)
Chef Patron at Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley and owner of The Gilbert Scott.
Marcus Wareing spent 15 years working for Gordon Ramsay Holdings before leaving following an argument in 2008. Upon parting company with Ramsay, he setup his own restaurant at The Berkeley Hotel where he holds two Michellin stars. In May his latest venture, The Gilbert Scott which will open in the new St Pancras Renaissance Hotel.
Starters
Lisa Allen cooked a British taken on the Chinese restaurant favourite crispy duck – but using suckling pig shoulder and British style pancakes which she had infused with sage. The dish was served with a spiced apple dipping sauce and apple sticks. The pork was cooked well, but the competing chefs were a little disappointed with the lack of crackling. Marcus Wareing was unsure if there was enough “crispness” in the dish to justify the name – and if the English style pancakes were a good idea. [ Score: 8 ]
Johnnie Mountain’s starter was an impressively presented Indian feast of bhajia, bhel puri and khandvi. The complex dish involved 120 ingredients and plenty of last minute cooking. The guest judge was unsure if the dish was more a selection of canapé’s than a starter dish but awarded the dish a high score. [ Score: 8 ]
Bruno Birkbeck served up his take on a ploughman’s lunch consisting of a pigs cheek terrine with cabbage and duck fat, shandy shot, chutney to share. Although the majority of the dish was served to share, there were several items such as soft boiled quails eggs, deep fried cheese and pork crackling provided on the plates – this raised questions as to if the dish was more a fine dining dish than a sharing one – it was also questioned for being a safe dish. [ Score: 8 ]
This weeks starters are: crispy shoulder of suckling pig with pancakes & dips, a new take on ploughmans lunch and a selection of Indian snacks – bhajia, bhel puri and khandvi.
Fish course
Lisa Allen salt baked rainbow trout stuffed with cockles and served whole in it’s salt crust with samphire and fennel and a potato salad. Being allergic to shellfish, the chef was unable to taste her own dish – but this didn’t stop her producing a dish Marcus Wareing loved – and the other chefs praised. The guest judge also loved the theatre of opening the crust. [ Score : 9 ]
Johnnie Mountain served up a bouillabaisse fish stew with john dory, monkfish, turbot, langoustines and lobsters served with rouille and croutons. Mentor Marcus Wareing was unconvinced by the soup base as it was made without the fish heads – marking it down for the subsequent lack of flavour and the use of too much expensive fish. The chef did, however like the presentation. [ Score: 4 ]
Bruno Birkbeck a barbecue of oak smoked salmon, Morecambe Bay shrimp skewers and Sheildaig langoustines. The fish was accompanied by a fine bean salad and asparagus shavings. Despite none of the fish actually being cooked on a barbecue, the food was presented in a smoke-filled but unlit barbecue. The dish received praise from competitor Johnnie Mountain who described the salmon as “the best he’s ever tasted” but the guest judge was less impressed and disappointed that presentation and name seemed to misrepresent the food. [ Score : 5 ]
Main course
Lisa Allen’s main course was barbecued beer-can chicken with summer beans and tear and a garlicky tear-and-share bread. The chicken was marinaded in beer and malt before being cooked upright in a barbecue with more beer that steamed the chicken as it cooked. Both other chefs liked the taste of the chicken, and guest judge Marcus Wareing thought that although the dish needed a little salt it was delicious and fitted the brief well. [ Score: 8 ]
Johnnie Mountain served up a roast saddle of Southdown lamb with a bread based stuffing with flavoured with lemon zest, lemon thyme. This was served with vanilla potatoes and summer vegetables including peas, broad beans and asparagus. The vegetables were served with a truffle to be grated over at the table, and a garlic espuma rather than a more traditional sauce or gravy. Bruno and Lisa were unsure how well the flavours worked together, but aside from the vanilla potatoes Marcus Wareing thought it was an great dish. [ Score: 7 ]
Bruno Birkbeck, inspired by his childhood Sunday lunches, cooked up a leg of Kitridding Farm lamb studded with rosemary and garlic and baked in hay. He served the lamb with sage-mash topped mini sphered’s pies, boulangere potatoes, crushed peas, red cabbage and a rich lamb gravy. Whilst the chefs competitors worried that the flavour of the hay was lost with the rosemary and garlic, Marcus Wareing though the three flavours worked well together. [ Score: 8 ]
Dessert
Lisa Allen’s dessert was an unconventionally shaped raspberry and chocolate pavlova served with individual tubs of sheep’s milk ice cream and raspberry jellies. The judge was initially unsure about the pavlova as rather than being round it was shaped into portions which were then joined together to enable easier sharing – however he later commended Lisa on the idea, and the execution giving it another high score. [ Score: 9 ]
Johnnie Mountain chose a very complex dish, a “viennaamisu” – his version of a tiramasu. The highly technical dish was topped with an equally complicated ti-coloured pulled sugar ribbon in the colours of the Italian flag. Despite a number of setbacks, the chef managed to present a dish that impressed Marcus Wareing enough to send him through to cook for the judging panel. [ Score : 8 ]
Bruno Birkbeck’s trio of rhubarb and custard desserts impressed the mentor with it’s cake-box presentation, but the rhubarb and custard tart, rhubarb sorbet and rhubarb and ginger cheesecake failed to impress. Both the chefs and the mentor decided the cheesecake lacked enough rhubarb flavour. [ Score: 5 ]
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