Great British Menu 2011 [ about the series | The People's Banquet (finals) ]

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North East : N. Ireland : North West : Central : South West : Scotland : Wales : South East
Starters : Fish Course : Mains : Desserts : Final banquet menu

This week is the final week of The Great British Menu 2011. The winning chefs from each heat will return to cook their dishes again for the the judging panel (pictured below). The judges (helped by a few of the mentors from previous weeks) will then score each dish with the winning dish earning a place at The People’s Banquet which is to be held at London’s Leadenhall Market in London. The top three dishes from each course will go through to the final selection on Thursdays show. From those, the judges will put together the final menu for the banquet.

The Food

Starters

Below are a list of the dishes that the chefs cooked for the judging panel, what the judges thought, and the overall scores of the dishes.

Andrew Pern	Corned beef with brown ale jelly, salad cream & pickles, blue cheese biscuits This was a new dish for Andrew, but the judges weren’t keen on the texture and didn’t think it was attractive	17
Chris Ferron	‘Season, shake and curry on’ coronation chicken Everyone that tried this dish loved it!	31
Lisa Allen	Pig and pancakes Lisa changed the presentation which the judges liked and they enjoyed the food.	30
Aktar Islam	Tiffin box The judges were disappointed that the dish hadn’t changed. They thought there were too many elements.	24
Paul Ainsworth	Cornish Duckling Paul changed his dish having received feedback. However, the duck was slightly dry.	24
Michael Smith	Baked Highland brie style cheese with Struan toast The judges thought this lacked excitement.	16
Hywel Jones	Cawl Hywel changed his dish and added bread. The judges thought the taste was amazing.	30
Tom Kerridge	Spring lamb broth Tom scaled this dish down, but the judges found this to be too heavy for a starter course	23

Fish course

Andrew Pern	North sea fish soup Andrew changed his dish slightly to serve lobster sandwiches rather than kippers, but the judges still thought the dish didn’t meet the brief.	19
Chris Ferron	Celebration of preserved salmon, tinned, cured and jellied The judges were disappointed by the lack of change in this dish. They thought that it was just a selection of canapes and wasn’t theatrical enough.	18
Lisa Allen	Baked sea trout stuffed with brown shrimps Lisa updated this dish to use sea trout rather than rainbow trout. She also used shrimps as the cockles she had were too gritty. The presentation was also changed to make more of a statement when it was brought to the table.	37
Aktar Islam	Influences from the Konkan coast The judges loved the updates to this dish (fillet rather than whole bass and a simple presentation). Prue thought it was a real triumph.	38
Paul Ainsworth	Fishermans Lunch The judges thought it looked and smelt amazing. Richard Corrigan also commented that the oysters were fabulous.	33
Michael Smith	West Coast prawn cocktail This was a new dish for Michael and the judges loved the presentation and thought it met the brief perfectly.	35
Hywel Jones	Dressed lobster with asparagus The dish was exactly the same as before, but the judges felt it wasn’t suitable for the banquet.	23
Tom Kerridge	Lobster burger Tom served a lemon emulsion rather than thermidor and also shrunk the size of the burger. The judges still weren’t impressed with the burger idea although it was visually stunning on arrival.	22

Main course

Andrew Pern	Deconstructed suckling pig The judges were looking forward to this dish, but when presented with it, thought it wasn’t as well cooked as the first time they’d tried it.	24
Chris Ferron	My fancy dress piggy Chris realised his newly added potato salad was under seasoned just as the dish was going out to the judges. However, the judges thought that the dish was lacking in some finer details that the other chefs were displaying.	21
Lisa Allen	Barbecued beer-can chicken with summer beans It was felt that Lisa undersold herself today with this simple dish – despite bringing a specially adapted indoor barbecue to cook with	23
Aktar Islam	Slow roasted shoulder of lamb with cashew nut & caramelised onion gravy Aktar changed his presentation slightly to use copper pans but other than that the dish was the same. However, the judges felt a bit let down with the dish describing it as plain in appearance and saying the lamb was slightly undercooked	23
Paul Ainsworth	Great British Pork ‘head to toe’ Paul added Pigs in blankets and a black pudding sausage roll onto his platter. Despite being late to serve his dish was well received and the judges thought it was stunning.	33
Michael Smith	Barbequed Scottish lamb with summer slaw & pink fir wedges This was described as a ‘monument of meat’ with the quality of the meat receiving a lot of praise	28
Hywel Jones	Brecon venison wellington with a pea salad When the wellington was sliced into, juices ran all over the table, the judges thought the venison was poor quality and the pastry not cooked well.	17
Tom Kerridge	Roast hog with salt baked potatoes and apple sauce Cooking first, Tom made no changes to his dish. The potatoes were cooked perfectly this time, unlike the heats and the judges thought the dish tasted perfect.	34

Dessert

Andrew Pern	Celebration of Yorkshire rhubarb The judges felt the dish was great and had lots of positive comments.	36
Chris Ferron	“lemonicious” sweet box The judges liked the presentation box and thought there were lots of lovely textures.	27
Lisa Allen	Raspberry and chocolate pavlova The judges were disappointed with Lisas offering today. They thought the dish lacked focus.	21
Aktar Islam	Chai panna cotta with coconut & lime sorbet, mango shrikhand and strawberry samosa Aktar changed the presentation to be on one platter rather than individual boxes but the judges had mixed views of the quality of the cooking.	26
Paul Ainsworth	Taste of the Fairground Paul dropped the candy floss from his original dish, the judges thought that the presentation puts a smile on your face.	38
Michael Smith	Oatmeal & hazelnut meringues with raspberries & cream The judges liked the interaction needed for serving this dish and thought that the presentation and taste was great – much better than last time.	33
Hywel Jones	Rhubarb and Strawberry trifle tart Hywel was disappointed when he served his dish and the judges thought the dish didn’t meet the sharing element of the brief.	29
Tom Kerridge	PYO strawberries and cream Tom changed the presentation which the judges felt met the brief perfectly. However, they felt the flavours and textures let the dish down.	25

The People’s Banquet Menu

The judges spent time choosing the banquet menu from the top 3 dishes from each course and they decided upon:

Starter
“Season and shake coronation chicken cooked” by Chris Ferron of Deanes at Queens in Belfast, Northern Ireland

Fish
“Influences from the Konkan coast” prepared by Aktar Islam of Lasan in Birmingham

Main
“Roast hog with salt bake potatoes and apple sauce” prepared by the South East chef Tom Kerridge of The Hand and Flowers in Marlow.

Dessert
“Taste of the Fairground” cooked by South West chef Paul Ainsworth of Paul Ainsworth at Number 6 Restaurant in Padstow.