Great British Menu 2012 – North West, the chefs, dishes & results

Week five sees three top chefs from the North West region competing to get their dishes onto the banquet menu under the watchful eye of Marcus Wareing – but as the pressure builds there is drama in the Great British Menu’s kitchens.

This week, Great British Menu will be shown at the following times: Monday – 19:00; Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday – 19:30; Friday 19:00.

Johnnie Mountain

Chef Patron – The English Pig, Millbank

Johnnie Mountain is making his third appearance on the show. This year, in line with the brief to push boundaries, he surprises his competitors by embracing molecular gastronomy.

His restaurant The English Pig, which has recently relocated to Millbank, serves a menu centered around British free-range pork – including the chef’s signature dish of 21 hour slow roasted pork belly.

Follow Johnnie Mountain on Twitter – @englishpig

Simon Rogan

Chef Patron – L’Enclume, Cartmel; Roganic in Marylebone and Rogan & Company, Cartmel

Newcomer to the show Simon Rogan opened his first restaurant, L’Enclume in the small Cumbrian village of Cartmel in 2003. The restaurant only uses British produce either produced on his own organic farm, foraged from the surrounding countryside or sourced from local producers.

Last year, he opened a two year “extended pop-up” restaurant in London, Roganic, and at the start of this year he opened his development kitchen – Aulis to diners.

Follow Simon Rogan on Twitter – @simon_rogan

Aiden Byrne

Chef Patron – The Church Green, Lymm and The British Grill

Aiden Byrne has appeared on Great British Menu twice before (in 2009 and 2010), but is yet to have a dish featured at the banquet.

His career has included time as Head Chef at The Dorchester in London and at Adlard’s in Norwich where he became the youngest chef to be awarded a Michelin Star.

His second restaurant, The British Grill opened in July 2011 and was awarded two AA rosettes within 8 weeks of opening.

Follow Aiden Byrne on Twitter – @aidenbyrne

Mentor & Guest Judge – Marcus Wareing

Head Chef – Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley and The Gilbert Scott

Marcus Wareing first appeared in series one of Great British Menu when his dessert “Custard tart with Garibaldi biscuits” was chosen to be served at the end of series banquet. This year will be his fifth appearance as a mentor/judge. The chef currently hold two Michelin stars at his restaurant Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley in London.

Read our Interview with Marcus Wareing.

Follow The Gilbert Scott on Twitter @Thegilbertscott

Starter

Johnnie Mountain took himself out of his comfort zone to produce a starter of ‘Foie gras ice cream, cherry ravioli & Iberico ham’. The ravioli was created using edible elastic and the foie gras was mixed with egg whites to improve the consistency before being chilled for just a few seconds in -196 degree liquid nitrogen. When the other chefs sampled the dish they liked the texture of the ice cream and found the taste of the foie gras had changed. Mentor Marcus Wareing was very impressed with the skills that Johnnie had displayed but felt a little disappointed that one of the main elements of the dish [ham] was straight from a packet. [ Score: 7 ]

Aiden Byrne also used foie gras and black cherries as the predominant ingredients in his ‘Black cherry & foie gras terrine with palm sugar mousse’. Although a classic combination, the chef pushed himself and served a well presented dish. The other chefs thought the plate of food looked delicious and enjoyed it all. Marcus felt the palm sugar mousse was excellent. [ Score: 8 ]

Simon Rogan appeared nervous throughout the show when preparing his ‘Grilled salad, truffle custard, cheese foam and cobnut crisp’. The chef flavoured his custard with rare wild English truffles – with one of his aims being to use ingredients people may not have seen before. Aiden really liked the dish and thought that it tasted unexpectedly different to how it looked. Marcus thought the flavours and textures worked well but agreed that some changes could be made to make it suitable for a banquet dish. [ Score: 9 ]

Fish course

Johnnie Mountain continued with the molecular gastronomy to create a ‘recreation of the sea’. There was an edible sand, a set sea jelly and Japanese seaweed. Although there was fish used creating the course, there wasn’t a main fish element to the dish. The other chefs thought the smokey taste from the anchovy oil was too strong and thought he was pushing things too far in this course. Mentor Marcus didn’t get the dish and thought the dish didn’t speak for itself without Johnnie explaining it. [ Score: 2 ] Johnnie Mountain then walked out of the competition – will he return tomorrow?

Aiden Byrne pushed his boundaries today to create ‘beetroot poached salmon, caviar, razor clam with a citrus and fennel salad’. The salmon was rolled with the caviar and stuck together with a protein glue. Simon and Johnnie thought the dish looked great and was cooked perfectly. Marcus struggled to find a fault with the plate of food and found it was complete dish perfectly executed. [ Score: 10]

Simon Rogan appeared more confident this evening and embraced the fish course by preparing a ‘lobster with pickled beetroot, sweet apple and cuckoo flower’. The chef used a gastro-vac to impregnate the lobster tails with lobster stock. When Johnnie and Aiden tried the dish they weren’t wowed with the flavours and thought it wasn’t strong enough for a banquet dish. Marcus thought there was room for improvement; the beetroot was crunchy and the cuckoo flower was hidden. [ Score: 7 ]

Main course

Following yesterdays show, Johnnie Mountain has left the Great British Menu competition for 2012. He did return to support his fellow chefs and give comments on the food they served.

Aiden Byrne’s main of ‘veal fillet with ham and spring peas’ was a challenge for the chef. He had to abandon his attempts to create ham fat spheres using spherification techniques as after three attempts they were unsuccessful. Simon and Johnnie thought the plate of food was lacking the wow factor that yesterdays fish dish had. Marcus was a little disappointed in the meat as it had a grey ring around it due to the temperature being turned up but thought that the pea and lard spherification had worked well and tasted good. [ Score:8 ]

Chef Simon Rogan created a plate of ’suckling pig with Northern Mead, vintage vegetables and beetroot’. The lop pig was reared especially for the chef and the vegetables had been picked at their prime and stored in sand for the occasion. Simon overcooked his turnips and found the remaining turnips had gone mushy in the sand. He managed to find an end that was ok to cook so presented a full plate of food to the pass. Chefs Aiden and Johnnie thought that the veg were cooked well and tasted great (each variety had been cooked individually sealed and cooked in a water bath) but that the pork wasn’t the best they’d tasted. Marcus loved the cookery of each element and liked the combination of summer and winter vegetables. His only criticism was that he would have liked more sauce. [ Score: 9 ]

Dessert

Aiden Byrne pushed the boundaries again with traditional flavours in a modern twist. In todays episode Aiden served ‘orange and olive oil cake with candied celery’ accompanied by cardamon ice cream. The was uncertainty in the kitchen whether celery would work in a dessert and the chef used ground almonds in the cake rather than flour. The other chefs liked the presentation which was very precise. There was a strong orange flavour and Johnnie really liked the texture of the olive oil cake. Marcus felt Aiden pushed the boundaries further than he has in previous years and that the dish worked well, it was interesting and intriguing – although celery wouldn’t be to everyones tastes. [ Score: 8 ]

Simon Rogan’s dish of ‘poached pears, anise hyssop snow, sweet cheese ice cream & rosehip syrup’ caused the chef some stresses through the episode. Simons anise snow flavour was created using a ‘rotary evaporator’ which distills liquids and traps the vapours. However, the gadgetry wasn’t working – after a couple of calls to the engineer it turned out that it wasn’t plugged in (much to the chefs embarrassment!). Simon picked the rosehips from high altitudes after experimenting with ones grown both low and high. The higher ones grow slower and retain a stronger flavour. The other chefs thought the dish had the wow factor when it was presented and really liked the herb garnish. Marcus thought that with a little work (a chilled plate so the ice cream and snow didn’t melt) it could be an outstanding dish. [ Score: 8 ]

Despite a couple of hiccups for both chefs they turned out a number of perfectly presented dishes for the judges. There were actually a couple of courses where all three judges agreed with each other! In the end Oliver and Prue voted for menu A which means that Simon Rogan will go through to the final of the competition.

Comments

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  Comment by john roberts

  Left at 16:38 on 15/05/2012
  

  Watched the show from its onset,huge fan. Chef’s judging chefs does not always produce the right atmosphere in the kitchen.The judging chef is present, with a critical eye and maybe bias[Marcus Wareing] this can be unnerving for anyone working, having a judge looking over your shoulder.
  The judging chef should not know who’s cooked what,that would be a lot fairer.Award points for chefs A,B,andC per course,lowest score at the end leaves the competition.