Great British Menu 2023: South West recap
Howard Middleton looks back over the latest week of Great British Menu heats, featuring four chefs from the South West.
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Great British Menu 2023‘I’d give it an eleven if I could,’ said Michael O’Hare in the series trailer, promising an episode to truly look forward to. Revealed as this week’s veteran on Tuesday, expectations were high for the chefs from south west England.
Back for a second attempt at the competition, Charlotte Vincent had a poor start with starters on Tuesday and, despite scoring higher for fish, was the first to leave. Amber Francis, head chef at the Zebra Riding Club in Hertfordshire was a front runner for most courses but then got pipped at the post by Nick Beardshaw, head chef at Kerridge’s Bar and Grill and Andi Tuck from the St Kew Inn in Cornwall.
As Tom Kerridge is Nick’s boss, his seat in the judging chamber is temporarily occupied by Marcus Wareing, resulting in an atmosphere that’s noticeably more reserved than usual. Marcus advises guest judge and animator Suzie Templeton to ‘taste, don’t eat’, which Ed Gamble believes will take the fun out of the whole experience.
Now, just on a point of Andi clarification, the food coming up will be from Andi T, but expect any shady comments to be primarily Andi O’s.
For canapés, Andi serves a little tartlet of smoked beef, horseradish and truffle. Nick’s is a crispy pig’s head cube, topped with pickled apple and truffle mayonnaise. Suzie, who reveals she’s never had anything like pork with apple before, cautiously decides she likes it. Nisha and Marcus agree, but mildly rebellious Ed favours the beef.
Michael O’Hare judged Nick’s Wallace and Gromit-inspired starter, ‘The Golden Carrot’ to be not carroty enough. He has a point, as the ‘carrot’ is actually made of potato, filled with whipped vegan feta, sitting on a bed of carrot royale and powdered black olive soil. A cute little tin of ‘Anti-Pesto’ completes the dish. Nevertheless, Marcus praises the ‘huge amount of skill’ and Nisha says ‘it’s genius’.
‘Lunch with the Gruffalo’ is Andi’s foraging forest fest, putting mushrooms firmly back on the menu. Pickled girolles, sticky glazed hen-of-the-woods and barbecued penny buns are served with a creamy puree of celeriac and wild chervil root. The judges agree it’s delicious, but Marcus thinks it ‘lacks the wow factor’.
Replicating the artwork of Radiohead’s album, ‘A Moon Shaped Pool’, Nick hides his fish course under an edible film of gelatine and black rice vinegar jelly. Onions, ginger, garlic, lemongrass and lime leaves go into his Thai-style green sauce, which, when poured over, dissolves the cover to reveal seared scallops, finger lime, compressed cucumber chunks and scallop roe. Ed says it’s ‘absolutely inspired’, whilst Marcus decides ‘it’s to die for’.
For his fish dish, Andi champions two lesser-known creatures – Gully the Seagull (creation of Cornish author Jon Cleave) and the gurnard (described by Ed as a ‘butt ugly’ fish). Pickled clams, cockles and mussels are plated with a squirt of chive emulsion, before being topped with charred and baked gurnard fillets and a spoonful of caviar. Smoked langoustine, prawn and lobster bisque is served as a sauce. Suzie thinks it might be the first bisque she’s ever had and likes its delicacy. Self-assured ‘big strong boy’ Ed perseveres after encountering a gritty mussel. Marcus says it lacks the wow factor again... and salt.
Inspired by Aardman Animations’ ‘Early Man’, Andi takes the elements from a classic Cornish pasty and deconstructs them in Stone Age style. Aged tomahawk steak is served alongside onions stuffed with tender short rib, blackened swede with birch sap syrup, potato fondants cooked in the steak’s tallow and wild chervil chutney. Son of a fruit and veg merchant, Marcus says it’s the best swede he’s ever tasted. Nisha judges it all ‘fantastic’.
On to what should be the star of the show - Nick’s Quentin Blake-style crocodile of venison wellington with cashew teeth, sausage roll legs and green gherkin gravy glaze. Yes, this is the dish that Michael O’Hare would have scored off the scale. There are smiles all round as the glorious creature enters the judging chamber. ‘Every element is really wonderful’ beams Nisha and then… Marcus gets a little snippy with the snappy chappy, deciding there are ‘quantity issues with the venison’ and although Nisha says, ‘the pastry is really good’, Marcus doesn’t like it. Suzie suggests the best things on the plate are the garlicky hispi cabbage and Jerusalem artichoke mash. I’m crocking speechless.
Thankfully, Marcus cracks a smile again at Nick’s pre-dessert – a spooky little lemon panna cotta, which he decides is ‘lovely’ and ‘great fun’. Andi’s toasted marshmallow with lemon curd filling is still a little frozen in the centre. Suzie realises too late that the accompanying tin mug contains a pretty potent smoked rum old-fashioned. ‘Thought it was a palate cleanser?’ suggests Nisha cheekily.
The judges’ alcoholically cleansed palates move on to Andi’s tribute to Aardman Animations – a chocolate bone served with a dog bowl of smoked ice cream, birch sap, hazelnuts and wild cherries. Ed, who prides himself on being a seasoned student of Great British Menu, correctly points out that Dan McGeorge won series sixteen with his dog bone dessert. Sadly, Andi’s is not winning over these judges. The ice cream is deemed to be grainy, and all agree it’s just too big.
For his dessert, Nick recreates Banksy’s ‘Balloon Girl’ as a glazed mascarpone, raspberry and rose cheesecake, with blackcurrant pate de fruits balloon string and chocolate and raspberry torte girl. It’s literally a work of art, but (sorry, I think the pickiness of the judges is rubbing off on me) is it illustration? Well, they all choose to ignore me and decide it’s banquet worthy.
As is Nick himself, for despite Marcus’s stingy score of seven for the crocodile, he triumphs overall and goes forward to finals week. And talking of the crocodile, let’s not overlook the best line of the week, which came from the wonderful Andi O. Narrating Nick’s progress on Wednesday she said, ‘Next he rolls his pastry, and shapes the different crocodile appendages correctly to avoid any reptile disfunction’. She, like Nick, is a hard act to follow.
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