Original subtitles

This year on Great British Menu...

Ooh, la-la!

...the creme de la creme of the UK's chefs...

Hot stuff coming through!

...are cooking their hearts out.

Focus - that's the idea.

They're competing to cook a course at a magnificent banquet...

Rock and roll!

...to hon our and celebrate Britain's triumphs in the world

of illustration and animation.

Stop! Motion! Action!

Wow.

Inspired by the 65th birthday of the nation's favourite

bear, Paddington, we're raising a glass to the full range

of illustrated and animated delights...

CHEERING

Oh, that's amazing!

...from cartoon series, to computer games and comics...

I've got Gruffalo hands!

But reputations are at stake...

I wave the white flag!

...as some of the most eminent Michelin-starred

veteran chefs of the competition...

I'm not giving out points for confidence, right?

...those dependable old hands...

Snakes! That'll be your snakes!

...and bright young guns... One each! You're too kind!

...will be returning to cast judgment.

I'm scoring you a 10.

I would give you an 11 if I could.

The chefs will need to come up with dishes which tell a story

and capture the imagination.

It's amazing!

Just as the likes of Mr Bean,

Rupert Bear, Pingu and Fireman Sam delight their audience...

Backup career!

...the chefs must thrill the exacting panel of judges...

It's absolutely buzzing with flavour, isn't it?

...who are searching for perfection on a plate.

Torn, it's so nice to see you!

What?!

Of course they are, it's Great British Menu.

Game on, people.

This week it's "cogyddion gorau Cymru" -

the best chefs from Wales are battling it out.

Trying to control the shakes now.

This week, the top chefs in Wales are drawing inspiration from some

of the most memorable cartoons and illustrated characters

from their nation.

Prepare for culinary takes on classic Welsh animations,

including Fireman Sam, Ivor the Engine

and beloved superhero Super Ted.

Kicking off the Welsh campaign, it's Cardiff's

Simmie Vedi.

This is her first chef competition.

Being a newcomer, I am very excited

and also very, very nervous.

Next in is Mark Threadgill, who was knocked out last year

after a tie-break.

I am Mark. Simmie.

This year, the pressure is to do the whole menu,

cos I'm not going out after the fish course.

24-year-old Georgia Sommerin is our youngest competitor.

Hello. Hi, you all right? How are you doing, you OK?

But, despite this, she's also having a second try.

Pleased to meet you.

I definitely feel more ready this time, a bit more experience.

I just want to cook to my best ability and make Wales proud.

Finally, it's Westy...

Hello. Hiya, you all right? You all right?

...who's also entered before, in 2019.

I'm back again, it's amazing.

I'd like to say that it feels easier, but it definitely doesn't.

Good brief this year. Yeah, really good brief.

I mean, who didn't watch cartoons, animation

when we were growing up? And Wales got to the banquet last year.

I reckon we'll get there - how hard can it be?

Hello, chefs. ALL: Hello.

Three returners. Yeah. Yeah. Gluttons for punishment!

Something to prove this time, so... Fire in your belly? Exactly.

We're going to start with the canape.

Your veteran is on the way.

This is the first time they're going to taste your food,

you want them onside, you want them thrilled about what's coming this week, right? Yeah.

Let's get cracking!

The canapes are used to decide any tie-break.

Both Mark and Georgia lost out because of theirs, last time.

Do I need a lighter for the blowtorch?

Oh, I got it.

Determined for history not to repeat itself,

Georgia is keeping it simple

with a Parmesan and pepper quiche.

DISH CLATTERS Oh, sugar!

But Westy is going all out with a love it or hate it ingredient.

I'm cooking a yeast extract and cheese choux bun.

Good bit of fun, though not everyone likes it.

While Simmie is making masala chicken croquettes.

This is the Indian Holy Trinity.

So you've got your ginger, your garlic and your chilli.

And Mark has blitzed together a Caesar dressing.

There's a crab Caesar salad in one mouthful,

so it's light, crisp, fresh.

They're all cooking to impress their mystery veteran chef.

How would you feel about it if Michael O'Hare walked through the door?

Quite all right. It'd be all right, yeah.

What about Lorna McNee?

It'd be quite an interesting one.

Aktar Islam? Oh, I love him.

It could be any of them,

OK, so deep breath.

Heading their way is our Champion of Champions from 2019.

How are you doing? Good, on time.

Good? Yeah, all good, just finishing touches.

She's the head chef at Cail Bruich restaurant and the only woman

in Scotland with a Michelin Star.

Simmie? A little bit behind.

Cos everybody else is ready, we're going to have to go for it. Yeah.

Are you ready to meet your veteran? Yeah. Great.

Go, go, go, go!

It's Lorna McNee. Hi, everyone.

Hi. Hello. How are you all? Good, thanks.

So, for yourself, what've we got?

So this is a Parmesan quiche with red pepper and herb salad.

OK, for yourself, what have we got?

So we got local crab Caesar salad.

Sorry for the mess!

OK, and for yourself?

So we've got a yeast extract and Cheddar cheese choux bun,

topped with pickled kohlrabi and apricot chutney.

Ancl for yourself?

It's a curried chicken croquette, with a cucumber salsa.

I'm going to make a mess again!

Lorna, what are your expectations from these lovely chefs?

We're looking for a really great creative food, something that's fun

that really shows the brief.

Got lots of different variations and styles of chefs here,

so I'm really looking forward to what everyone can bring.

Game on! Shall we?

Yes, let's.

My mouth's bigger than hers!

What is a mouthful?

LAUGHTER

I'm quite excited for Lorna to be the veteran.

I think she's going to look for flavour and flavour's

something I do really well.

Lorna is a perfectionist,

so I think it's going to be a hard one to please as well.

So I'm going to get you to rank them.

Fourth, we'll go with Simmie.

Quite big, un-elegant to eat,

and it was quite under-seasoned for my liking.

Good luck. Crunch outside and really soft in the middle.

We'll go to Mark as third for the crab.

It was just too big and too messy and if he'd made that smaller,

I actually think would have enjoyed it a lot more.

That's one big mouthful!

Mm! Mm!

Second, we'll goal for Georgia, it was nice, really rich, full of flavour.

I think the tart pastry itself could've been slightly

thinner in texture.

Red pepper for me is beautiful.

So, I go for Westy as number one - little choux bun and pick

it up in your mouth all at once, that for me is a canape.

It's really tasty. Tasty, yes.

Like cheese on toast. Mm, yeah.

That first thing you put up is always the most nerve-racking,

so let's see what they bring next. OK.

On we go! I can't wait! I know!

Onto starters.

Each dish needs to have a clear link to this year's brief,

a celebration of British animation or illustration,

and they must also be vegan.

Westy is basing his around a Welsh steam engine.

My dish is called |vor's Egg.

I used to watch Ivor the Engine and my favourite episode

was called The Egg.

They found a dragon's egg in a volcano. Popped it

inside of his firebox, it hatched and you had this beautiful little dragon called Idris.

So I've got some gunpowder tea, which I'm going to be infusing

into a dashi broth.

I've got the pak choi and then the shiitake mushrooms cooked

over the coals, and then some leeks that I'm going to sweat

down in a little charcoal oil to begin with and then finish them over the coals.

You've got quite a lot of smoke flavours going on but not overpowering, I take it?

No, I've got a set miso custard essentially, set in the shape

of an egg, that's going to help mellow the whole thing out.

I'm really intrigued to taste it, the egg's - nothing like this I've ever had before.

Hopefully that'll be a good thing! I'm sure it will be!

Simmie's also using mushrooms in her starter,

based around the illustrations of Quentin Blake.

The dish is called No Bird Pie For Mr Twit.

Ah, the Twits! Yeah.

It was one of my favourite books growing up, and they usually

have bird pie on a Wednesday.

In this particular story, there was no bird pie for them,

so it is a "no-bird pie" using mushrooms.

Yum! The king oyster is being braised with dark ale.

And then the hen-of-the-woods, they're going to be pan-fried.

The pastry lid is going to be sort of domed,

just going to sort of sit on top, like a little cage.

Ancl your artichokes?

So they're going to be for a puree and then I'm going to make

a leek top and chive oil.

Quite a few elements. Yeah, I just have to make sure that I'm doing

things in the timings that I know I can do them in.

There's the word I was looking for - timings! Timings, yeah!

Onto Georgia,

who's basing her dish on a lovable Welsh fireman.

So my starter is called Sam's Lunch, and it's inspired by Fireman Sam

and the character Bella Lasagne.

AW. Grafia! Oh'. Grain, grain'.!

You a save a me in my hour of need a!

So I'm going to be making a root vegetable lasagne

with some celeriac puree.

The lasagne base is going to be carrots, parsnip, turnip,

celeriac and swede.

Ancl then the tomato sauce, I'll be roasting the tomatoes

in the oven and then blitzing and then mix it all together.

Ancl then I'm going to have some turnip slices, which will represent

the pasta, and then some heritage tomatoes will be cooked in some

basil and sherry vinegar.

Is there going to be enough creaminess from celeriac puree?

Are we not going to miss the bechamel?

No, there should be enough creaminess from the celeriac.

It's game on, as Mark has been inspired by the same

series as Georgia.

So the dish is called,

It's a Fire Called Sam.

Fireman Sam! So it's from Fireman Sam.

I used to watch it a lot when I was younger and now I watch it with my daughter.

So it's quite close to your heart, this one? Yeah.

So, it's braised local carrots, pickled carrots, carrot puree

and carrot crisps.

So, you'll be able to differentiate all those different carrot elements? Yeah.

Then I've got Puy lentils,

I'm going to cook these in shiitake stock,

I'll add some truffle, a bit of smoked vinegar.

And to finish it, there'll be a smoked foam from smoke water.

It's quite strong. Yeah, it's strong.

You've got a lot of powerful things happening there, haven't you?

It sounds overpowering, but it's not. No? I wish you lots of luck.

Thank you. Good luck, guys.

Thank you. Thanks.

Westy starts by infusing kombu seaweed for his gunpowder broth,

then makes his custard.

Soya milk.

Miso.

And the hverbread.

Ancl I'm just going to be cooking this for ten minutes.

He pours it into egg moulds to set.

Wonderful!

Meanwhile, Mark uses a fermented rice marinade, or koji,

to help intensify his flavours.

So I'm putting the carrots into koji now.

So they'll sitting in there now for an hour.

He's also deep-frying carrot strips to make crisps,

as Georgia starts her lasagne with celeriac

puree and sliced turnip.

So these are going to be my pasta.

A touch of olive oil.

Ancl some salt.

While Simmie has a vegetable, beer and brandy braise on

and is making vegan pastry.

Vegetable lard gets very, very soft, very, very quickly,

so I just have to work very fast with it.

So vegan starters this year, Lorna?

I think it's a great idea, it's a way in which the world's going just know.

Ancl I do think that it will be difficult for the chefs to try and push that flavour through.

Cos it wasn't hard enough, Great British Menu!

No, definitely not - it's easy!

In the pressure keg of the kitchen,

Mark is cooking Puy lentils in shiitake stock,

as Westie adds gunpowder tea to his broth.

Well, that smells amazing! Woo!

Westy was born and bred in Cardiff.

A former National Chef of Wales,

he earned his chef stripes at the Michelin-starred Lucknam Park.

I would describe my cooking style as relaxed,

fun, but delicious.

Service, please.

My Welsh heritage is really important to me as a chef.

We have fantastic coastlines, we have amazing pastures

and fantastic heritage to call from.

Right, take all that to the pass.

I'm extremely excited to be back representing Wales.

Couple of years on, a bit more experienced,

I'm back to take the title.

Service, please.

He's cooking to win as he checks his miso eggs...

That's perfect - just set, that is.

We all like a wobble!

...and tries to get his smoky broth balanced.

Am I good to taste? Certainly.

Remind me of everything that's in here again.

So, you've got kombu dashi,

gunpowder tea, fresh ginger,

and dried shiitake mushrooms.

I tasted Westy's dashi.

The smoke element for me is a little bit too high.

You need to get the balance right, otherwise it's going to kill it.

That's clone.

Georgia is flavouring heritage tomatoes in sherry vinegar.

These are going to stew then for about 40 minutes.

And for his Fireman Sam theme,

Mark adds smoked vinegar to his lentils and makes

a foam with soy milk and Anglesey smoked water.

Do you think you've got too many smoky elements or it'll balance out?

No, because this is the main smoke.

So this is just soy milk, smoked water, salt.

If you have too much, it's a bit too strong

but for the dish it works perfectly.

He removes the carrots from the koji

and cooks them in carrot juice,

then blitzes more carrots to make a puree,

as Simmie cooks her king oyster mushrooms in her braise,

and purees treacle-roasted artichokes.

Simmie is a self-taught chef, fired up by sustainability.

While she's not trodden the usual route in her career

and is without awards or accolades,

it's a burning passion for food that drives her on.

I started with quite humble beginnings.

I started in a Marston's pub.

I've not had formal training.

I've just worked as hard as I possibly can and tried to glean

as much knowledge as I can.

Great British Menu's played a really big part.

When Sabrina Gidda was on, she inspired me so much

because I had never seen an Indian female chef go into one

of these competitions.

It opened up a whole new realm of possibility for me.

I'm honoured to be representing Wales.

I love this country.

Service!

OK, Simmie, how's it all going? Going good, going good.

Just pulling apart my braised oyster mushrooms at the moment.

Can I taste your puree? You can indeed.

So it just needs a little bit further blending. OK, great.

Simmie's Jerusalem artichoke puree is really nice.

She's still got her shortcrust pastry to do.

For me, that's the most delicate element of her dish,

so she'd better hurry up and get it clone.

Simmie does move on to her pastry, but she's got a problem.

It's too crumbly to make into a cage.

Instead, she cuts it into discs.

Is that yours, Georgia? Yeah.

Look at them tomatoes!

The roast tomatoes are blitzed and mixed with turnip, swede,

parsnip and carrot for her lasagne ragu sauce.

How's it all going? Yeah, all good.

I got my tomato sauce on. That's reducing. OK.

I've got my celeriac puree here, if you want to give it a try.

OK.

So this is essentially your bechameL

Yes.

I've tasted Georgia's celeriac puree.

It's nice, but it's just a puree.

Everything else is going to have to really bring that flavour.

Mm, love that smell.

Westy finishes charring his veg on the barbecue.

He's serving first, and starts plating with his miso egg.

I've got charcoal leeks.

These have two different levels of charcoal flavour through it.

Two minutes to the pass, please. No problem.

He continues with pak choi and shiitake mushrooms,

which he's brushed with charcoal oil.

Were they on the coals as well? Yeah.

Interesting.

Ancl then there's a little bit of shiitake mushroom powder.

He's serving his gunpowder broth on the side.

My mother's a bit of a whizz with a knitting needle.

If you want to pop that on the teapot.

Is that for luck?

It certainly is.

This is |vor's Egg, inspired by Ivor The Engine

and Idris, that hatched from the egg, who we've got here.

Take this plate. Let's go.

Good luck, chef. Thank you very much.

Have a smell first.

Oh, wow!

Let's see what it's like.

Are your eggs the correct texture that you're looking for?

Yeah, it's slightly sort of gelatinous and doughy

but it's still quite light, like a custard.

The texture of the egg is amazing.

I personally can't taste the miso.

What do you think of the seasoning?

I think it was the leeks that were more salty than anything else.

Smoky flavour in there enough for you? I think it's bang on.

You know it's there without it being overpowering,

and it still leaves you with the flavour of the mushrooms.

Very smoky.

He's charred everything, so it needs something to cut through it.

Simmie, what do you think? It is overpoweringly smoky.

What would you score your dish?

I'd give this an eight, just because I'm not quite happy

with the temperature of the egg.

OK, let's have some scores, starting with you, Mark.

Seven.

I'm thinking a six.

I'm going to say seven.

How's it going? Are we happy? Yeah.

It was smoky. MARK: It WAS smoky.

Simmie is up next.

She fries hen of the woods in butter.

Two minutes to the pass, please. Two minutes, OK.

How are we looking on the pastry?

Ah! You know what, guys? I'm just not sure.

How much longer do you think they'll need?

I'm going to be about three minutes over time.

I should have got it in a little bit earlier.

The clock has run down on her again

and she can't finish her leek top oil in time to serve.

There we go. I'm going to start getting everything out now.

They have coloured.

You need to move quite quickly because, after a certain amount

of time, you start to lose points just on your timing.

Her pulled king oyster mushrooms sit on the pastry,

then Mark tops them with her hen of the woods.

Anything else I can follow behind with?

Pickled leek rings, if you don't mind.

You're two minutes over time now.

Simmie finishes off with her artichoke puree.

Right, ready.

She serves it wearing a beard full of food, just like Mr Twit.

The name is No Bird Pie for Mr Twit.

The inspiration is Quentin Blake's illustrations.

OK. Shall we go taste? Yeah.

So, first impressions.

I think it's far too big for a starter.

So, it was meant to be a cage of pastry, is that correct? Yes.

So what happened there?

The pastry was too short to sort of stretch it over the bowls.

Ancl your king oyster ragout, are you happy with that?

Er, yeah.

Are we getting the Jerusalem artichokes with the treacle?

No. No, I don't really see how it, kind of, comes into the dish.

Ancl do you have a chive and leek oil? Is that on there?

That's been left off cos I ran out of time.

Right, 0|

Seasoning, Westy, what do you think about that?

I think the whole dish overall lacks a level of seasoning. Yeah.

What would you score your dish?

To be honest, this version of it, I'd probably give it a six.

OK.

Sounds harsh, but a five.

I'm going to go with a four.

I'll go five as well.

Just a bit more finesse.

How was that? It was, er, interesting.

BLEEP!

As Mark readies his dish, he takes his eye off the boil.

Just caught it then, I hope.

He begins plating with his carrot puree.

Beautiful orange. Mm.

His lentils are next.

On top goes the koji carrot and more puree.

What's that?

These are pickled carrots.

Two minutes to the pass. Right.

Roasted cobnuts and the carrot crisps are sprinkled on.

Well, it definitely represents Fireman Sam.

It does look like fire, doesn't it? Yeah.

Then carrot tops and spring onion oil.

And finally, he whisks up his smoked water foam.

You're clue at the pass now, please. Right.

The others help by filling his cloches with smoke.

I want to BLEEP! One minute.

I'll have to do that one again. I forgot to put charcoal salt.

He adds a final seasoning.

For that one, quick.

Yes.

That's a lot of smoke under that cloche.

The dish is served in a darkened kitchen to show little lights

in his smoky cloches.

All right? Yeah.

Dish and inspiration, please?

It's A Fire Called Sam, inspired from Fireman Sam.

After you.

Good luck, chef. Thank you.

# And his engine's bright and clean Fireman Sam

# You cannot ignore Sam is the hero next door... #

Excellent colour. Oh, it's stunning.

Is your koji bringing something to that carrot?

Is it coming through as you expected?

Yeah, that koji just brings that carrot flavour out more.

I think it's delicious.

When you bite into it, I think it's nicely seasoned

with the koji all the way through.

The smoked foam, quite happy with the level of that? Yeah.

I think it brings that different oak smoke to it.

I think it's the right balance of smoke.

You've got the pickle that breaks through.

It does make the carrot crisp soggy.

Are your lentils how you wanted them?

Yeah, seasoned with a smoked vinegar.

What would you score yourself for this dish?

Have to say nine,

cos I've cooked the elements perfectly, I think.

I would give it a eight.

I'd give it a seven.

I just think there's a couple of little bits,

like those crisps and the foam.

Yeah, I'd give it a seven too.

How was that, chef? It was all right.

Were you happy? Yeah.

Just Georgia left,

she lays out tablecloths like

the ones in Bella Lasagne's cafe

in the animated series Fireman Sam.

So this is just my celeriac puree.

Are you happy with the consistency? Yeah, definitely.

Next goes the vegetable ragu mix.

So that's got all those roasted tomatoes in it as well?

Roasted tomatoes, yeah.

Little bit of miso just for depth of flavour, as well.

Ancl then this is my turnip pasta.

Just trying to control the shakes now.

The sherry vinegar-cooked heritage tomatoes

go on, then more celeriac puree.

Seven minutes to the pass? I'll be up in two.

You're early? Yeah. Very calm.

Georgia finishes her dish with basil pesto.

MUSIC PLAYS

I didn't realise that was going to play a song, sorry!

What was that, the hat? Yeah!

SONG CONTINUES

So the name of the dish is

Sam's Lunch, inspired by Fireman Sam,

and the character Belle Lasagne.

Look at you, all early. Right.

All right, good luck, guys.

OK.

# Sam is the hero next door... #

Good luck, Chef.

Put this on. You going to actually wear that?

Very good it looks, too.

Backup career.

So is your ragu cooked how you expected it to be cooked?

Yeah, it's still got a bit of texture to it.

The root vegetables,

I know she's going after the raw side, but if you cook them a

little more, you get more flavour.

I actually really like that it's a

tiny bit raw but I do like everything very crunchy.

Ancl your turnips are the texture

that you expect them to be, as well?

I think maybe go a little bit

thinner on the turnip and marinate a little bit longer.

The celeriac puree seems to work quite well. Yeah, it's got a

lot of creamy flavour to it.

Is it exciting enough?

Erm...

What would you score yourself for this dish?

I'd say seven. I think it just needs a couple of tweaks.

So, I'm going to go with a six.

I just feel maybe I'm looking for a bit more of a punch.

I'm going to say a seven.

I think I'll give it a seven.

Hello. Hi, guys. Hiya. How'd it go?

Ah, yeah, it was all right. I think the pasta was a bit thick.

How are you feeling?

A bit underwhelmed, if I'm honest.

I think they could have got a lot more out of some of the vegetables.

Do you think we've all clone enough to impress Lorna?

Errn, I hope so.

She's quite hard to read, as well, so... Yeah.

...| think we've all just got to have our fingers crossed.

Nobody had a faultless dish, did they?

No, nobody had a faultless dish.

Yeah. One kind of lead runner,

but not too far ahead, I wouldn't say.

OK, are we ready? Let's go get these scores. Yeah.

Good luck, everyone. Good luck.

Westy, for your dish, |vor's Egg...

I like your link to Ivor the Engine.

Your miso egg was set nicely.

I, unfortunately, couldn't taste the miso.

The shiitake mushrooms were so juicy

but the leeks and pak choi that you'd dressed the charcoal oil,

I felt that they were both overpowering and really smoky.

The broth - there was some great flavours in there,

real depth. I think that you just

over-infused it with your

gunpowder smoke, and it took away

from everything else that was nice in there.

Simmie, for your dish...

Apart from the comedy beard,

the dish didn't really

celebrate Quentin Blake's illustrations enough.

The best part of the dish, I found,

was the pulled king oyster mushroom.

I thought it had a rich meatiness and a lovely sweetness to it.

Your Jerusalem artichoke puree,

I didn't really feel it added anything, cos it was on the side,

it was almost like a condiment.

Your pastry was a real disappointment, it was too

crumbly, way too short,

lack of that cage made the whole dish lack elegance.

Mark, for your dish...

Your presentation was great.

It actually looked like fire.

Your Puy lentils were cooked perfectly.

Ancl I really enjoyed that nice

smoked vinegar that was going through them.

The smoky foam, actually, overall, seasoned the dish very nicely.

The four different textures of the carrot you'd made

played their part well.

The only thing was your carrot crisps.

I think having the condensation from your cloche

has maybe made them go a bit soft.

Georgia, for your dish, Sam's Lunch.

I'd like to see more fun with your inspiration.

Maybe a packed lunch or something.

The tomato sauce had a deep richness,

but I couldn't differentiate what root vegetables were in there.

The turnip pasta, in my opinion, was slightly oversalted.

I think if it was thinner and it was marinated for less time,

you wouldn't get that.

Overall, I just found the dish a little bit too simple,

and just needs to be more of a banquet-worthy dish.

And so to the scores.

So, Westy, I'm giving you...

...a six.

I thought the dish lacked a bit of balance, really.

Unfortunately, that broth just overwhelmed everything,

so you might just want to rethink some of the elements on the plate.

Simmie...

...I'm scoring you...

...a five.

I really love your ideas, but the execution was just not

there on this dish, so you need to get that timing under control.

Mark...

...I'm scoring you.

...an eight.

It was a really good, balanced starter

with well-thought-out flavours, really executed well.

Well done, Mark. Thanks.

Ancl Georgia...

...I'm scoring you...

...a six.

I think you achieved what you wanted to, Georgia.

It just wasn't exciting enough.

Chefs, I think all of you just need to step it up,

because one of you is going home after this course.

And, right now, it could be any of you.

Thank you.

That's never fun, is it? No.

Well done. Nice one. Congratulations. Yeah.

Yeah, I think we've got a bit of work to do to sort of catch up.

Yeah, definitely. WHISPERS: just a little bit.

Next up, it's the fish course.

And, with scores this tight,

they are really feeling the pressure.

I don't feel great about getting a six for my starter.

I'm going to have to make sure that everything's bang-on

to make sure I stay in the competition.

The pressure's definitely on.

Someone's got to go home today.

Happened to me last year, so it's not going to happen again.

I feel like I've got a lot more work to do,

and a lot more to prove.

In his bid to stay in the competition,

Mark starts by shucking oysters for his dish,

inspired by a cartoon that was originally only shown in Welsh.

So, the title is Help, SuperTed, They're Stealing Apples.

I loved SuperTed. When Texas Pete was stealing the pearls

from the Pacific Ocean...

Can you swim, Spotty? I'm not sure.

Oh! Whoa!

Oh, well, no bones broken.

So, the dish is plaice,

poached oyster, cucumber,

oyster pearls, white radish kimchi and buttermilk dashi.

And is it a whole plaice?

It's filleted.

So, I bake it in the oven, 100 degrees, with beurre noisette.

Mm. Delicate fish has to be gently cooked to make sure

that it's... Yeah. ..just on the money.

And these oyster pearls, how are they...appearing?

Basically, there's oyster juice-coated cucumber balls.

It sounds like it could be very elegant...

Yeah, I would say so. ..this plate.

Mark fillets his plaice...

...while Simmie works on a monkfish.

Here we are.

She uses the trim to start her sauce for her take

on a Japanese manga series.

The dish is called Galar Masala.

It's based on Pokemon Sword And Shield.

And in Pokemon Sword And Shield, they've got a part of it called

Galar, which is actually based on the United Kingdom.

Right. The most eaten dish within the game is a Galar Masala.

What's going to be on the plate?

So, this is an amalgamation of a bisque and a curry sauce.

Right. I'm using monkfish. Mm-hm?

I will be using the tail, which will be sous vide

and then pan-fried.

And then I will be using the cheeks in a bhaji.

Oh, yum! Yeah. Yeah, love a bhaji.

And then there'll be some little rice balls. Right.

A celeriac puree.

Yep. And we'll have a green mango pickle.

Keep in mind those timings. Yeah. I can't wait to see your dish,

and I wish you loads of luck. Cheers, thank you very much.

For the bhaji, she combines fresh ginger juice with chickpea flour,

cumin, coriander and turmeric.

This is more how I was taught how to cook.

I was taught how to cook by my dad.

If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have really been a chef.

She adds the monkfish cheeks,

as Westy begins a chowder for his fish,

inspired by a beach animation.

So the title of my dish is Gulp.

It's based on a stop-motion animation that was filmed

on a beach, and it actually won a Guinness World Record

for being the largest one ever filmed on a phone.

Filmed on a phone?!

Yeah, so, it was up on a crane above the beach

and all the sand artists were underneath making the animation.

Wow! Talk me through it, then - what's on the plate?

So I'm going to have some sweetcorn prepared a few different ways.

So I've got a little risotto. So I'm steaming that sweetcorn.

I've got some juice to finish it.

I've then got a nice chorizo oil

that's going to add a little bit of heat and some smokiness to it.

Mm! You love that smokiness, don't you?

I'll never get away from it. Some little chorizo crisps as well.

I've then got a beautiful piece of halibut that's been pan-fried.

Yum! Some crispy mussels.

Ancl then I've got a sweetcorn chowder to go with it as well.

Halibut sounds lovely. Yeah, sounds beautiful.

Yeah, it's one of those ones that can go dry quite easy.

So a gentle cook on it, I would say.

Westy preps his cobs for roasting.

It's corn.

And flavours his chowder with white wine,

whilst Georgia brines her halibut

to add seasoning and moisture for her dish,

based on one of her dad's favourite childhood shows.

The title is The Important Message, and it's inspired by Portland Bill.

In the episode, there's miscommunication through semaphore,

and then they end up having fish and chips for tea,

which shouldn't have happened.

So this is my take on fish, chips and curry sauce.

Nice. So what will actually be on the plate?

So I've got some lovely halibut,

and then I've got some Pembrokeshire new potatoes,

which I'm going to crush down.

Are they going to have a bit of crispiness to them?

Yeah, so I'm going to crisp-up the underside

so you've got that texture,

and then there'll be a curry mussel veloute,

some girolles,

and I've got some batter scraps as well.

I love scraps. Don't you love scraps, Lorna?

Things that are really tasty.

Looking for real, good depth in that sauce to bring everything together.

Hoping to do just that,

Georgia starts her sauce base.

I've got some carrots, leeks, shallots, garlic.

Next, she adds curry powder, mussels and wine.

Fine dining runs in Georgia's family,

as her dad has also competed on Great British Menu.

He's taught her everything she knows in the kitchens of their

Michelin-starred restaurant, Home, in Penarth.

Turbot going on table two. Six minutes? Right.

I started off just working in the kitchen

to earn some pocket money.

I fell in love with cooking

and wanted to work in a professional kitchen.

The last time I did Great British Menu, even though it was

nerve-racking at the time, it definitely built my confidence,

and I'm really excited to be representing Wales again.

I'm good with pressure and criticism.

You know, nothing's perfect and you have to push to be the best.

Back in the competition, Mark is making cucumber balls

using any spare bits for a puree.

And Westy's got yet more corn to prepare.

So I'm taking the niblets off the husks of the sweetcorn.

I'm going to be juicing it,

and that's going to be the sauce and the bulk of the risotto.

So, Westy - what did you think about the sound of this dish?

Quite a lot of sweetcorn going on in there,

so it's whether he's got enough savouriness in there

to kind of balance all that out,

or whether all we're going to be able to taste is sweetcorn.

Look at that. Golden goodness.

Westy's hoping to cut through the sweetcorn with smoky chorizo

that he's crisped-up in the oven.

Mm!

To link her food to the brief, Simmie's making Poke Balls,

which are used to catch Pokemon in the game.

This is a last-minute addition.

It's just sushi rice-flavoured with some cumin.

The top is red, with the tomato powder,

and then there'll be a little nori belt.

I feel like it brings actual relevance to the dish.

She then sous-vides her monkfish tails with ajwain, garlic,

ginger and ghee.

I seen Simmie's monkfish in the water bath.

It seems to me like it still has the membrane

on the outside of it.

Now, if that membrane is not taken off,

it's going to make the monkfish extremely chewy and pretty inedible.

Mark has blended oysters, their juice and agar-agar,

to make a gel.

So I'm just slipping the cucumber pearls into the oyster juice.

I froze the cucumber balls

so it sets straight away, so it doesn't drip.

Are these going to be sort of fridge temp?

Are they're going to come at room temperature?

Room temperature, it's a jelly, it will be just soft.

OK.

Mark grew up in West Wales near the Portmeirion Hotel,

where he's now head chef.

He draws on his classical French training to create dishes

made from the finest locally sourced Welsh produce.

IN WELSH:

My journey started here when I was 15 years old,

straight from school.

Then I left to work in various restaurants.

Ancl then the opportunity came to come back to Portmeirion.

How long for the salmon? 30 seconds, Chef.

My favourite thing to being a chef is just to see people enjoy,

and to work as a team. just the buzz of the kitchen.

My goal this year on Great British Menu is to go to judges' Chamber

and get to the final for Wales.

Back at the competition,

Westy is breadcrumbing mussels.

Simmie is whizzing up a celeriac puree,

and Georgia is crushing her Pembrokeshire new potatoes.

What are we on so far?

So my veloute is on, reducing.

You can try it, but it's not quite ready.

It's only a touch of lemon juice, just to freshen it up.

Ancl then I'm just in the middle of making the potato mix. OK.

So it'll be mixed with some capers,

lemon, so there's some texture running through it.

She fries her potatoes over greaseproof, to prevent sticking.

So I'm just going to crisp-up the one side.

Mark is squeezing out the last bit of flavour from some

bonito tuna flakes, and kombu kelp for a buttermilk foam.

MIXER WHIRS

I hate that noise.

And, to go with his halibut, Westy has whipped up a sweetcorn chowder.

So what's all in here again, then?

So you've got some garlic, some sweetcorn, some butter, white wine.

It's flavoured with a little bit of kombu dashi,

a little bit of smoke powder

just to give it that smoked fish flavour.

OK. Is it going to be more balanced than your starter?

Hopefully. We'll see.

HE LAUGHS

As we get closer to plating, he begins his risotto.

Instead of using rice, he's making it with more sweetcorn.

Adding lots of sweetcorn juice - that's going to thicken and that's

going to give the risotto a lot of body.

Then I'm just finishing it with some spring onions and chives.

I'm going to start with the fish now.

Georgia is getting ready to serve first.

As she sautes her halibut with a little thyme and some mussels,

the batter scraps go into the fryer.

One minute to pass, please, Georgia.

Oui.

She plates her potato, then carefully adds her fish.

Georgia, my love, I think you're due on the pass.

How are you getting on? Yes, I just need 30 seconds.

Lighthouses like Portland Bill's are on the pass,

along with a guide to semaphore.

Left hand across low, right hand out.

This is not my first time at semaphore, you know, actually,

because I was in the Brownies!

Georgia lays mussels on top,

then batter scraps... Ah, nice. ..and the girolles.

You're two minutes late now, Georgia.

Yeah, I'm just going to jug the sauce, and then I'm ready.

And what is the sauce, Georgia?

It's a curry and mussel veloute.

So the name of the dish is The Important Message,

which is inspired by Portland Bill.

So this is my take on a posh fish and chips.

Shall we go? Yes.

I'll take the lighthouse.

I think it looks very appealing.

Looks beautiful. Definitely does. It's beautiful.

So, first of all, happy with the cooking of your fish?

Yeah, I'm happy with the cooking of it.

I quite like the cooking of the fish.

It's really nicely seasoned.

Yeah. The scraps gives it nice texture as well.

The potatoes are crispy enough on the outside and...

Yeah, I wanted a nice crispiness, but also keep that fluffiness

that kind of represents biting into a chip from the chippy.

Are we convinced by the potato?

I kind of want more crispy potato, if I'm honest.

Yeah.

Your sauce? I think just a touch more curry powder, maybe

just to bring out the spice slightly.

All right, let's get some scores.

Errn... I'd give it a seven.

As a fish and chips, not quite fish and chips.

I would say seven, as well.

I'm going to go with a seven, as well.

I'd really like an eight for this one.

Last time, I was knocked out at this round,

and I don't want to be that person going home.

Hello.

I waved the white flag. I'm clone.

Westy is presenting his Gulp dish with rigs,

so diners can use their phones to film a stop-motion animation

of their plates.

He begins pan-frying his halibut in foaming butter.

Do you need anything?

Do you want to drop those mussels for me, cheers, Georgia? Yep.

Three minutes, Westy. Yeah, we're looking good. Cheers.

The mussels get a flash-fry as he plates his risotto.

Chef, do you want to have a look at these?

Yep, they're perfect. Thank you.

The crispy mussels and chorizo go on

and Georgia pours the chowder sauce.

How's that now?

Go a touch more, actually. Touch more.

Won't hurt, will it?

Finally, the fish is placed on top and he's used some of his chorizo

to make an oil to finish it off.

So, this is Gulp,

inspired by a stop-motion animation filmed on a beach.

Happy? Certainly am.

Great. Let's go.

Sauce it up, people.

So, fish cooked to your liking?

Yep. The halibut cooked just how I wanted it.

It flakes away but it's still nice and moist.

I think the fish is cooked perfectly.

It's really delicate.

For me, personally, just a touch of salt to finish. Yeah.

The crispy mussel how you'd expect?

I want a little bit more seasoning on the mussel, I think.

The little chorizo crisp works very well. Mm. Yeah, that's really nice.

What about the sweetcorn risotto?

Yeah, the sweetcorn is definitely punchy.

Ancl your chowder sauce, has it got enough smokiness in there?

I think so. I think it's dialled down enough.

Mm-hm. Maybe a touch more acidity, maybe, in the sauce.

So shall we get some scores? I'm going to start with you, Simmie.

I would give him an eight.

I'd give an eight.

I'd give an eight, just because of maybe the link to the brief.

It just needs a little bit more explanation.

So, I'd give it a seven. I think a little more acidity in the sauce,

seasoning on the mussel, but, overall, I'm really happy with it,

so I'm hoping I've done enough to get through.

Hi, Chef. Are you happy?

I was really happy with that, I think.

It was really tasty.

For her dish,

Simmie is frying her monkfish tails in butter to get a golden finish.

What temperature are you looking for?

So...more than that.

Has anyone seen my bhajis? They're at the fryer here.

As the shakes start to come,

she begins plating with her rice Poke Balls and celeriac puree.

Three minutes, Simmie. Yep. Do you want the monkfish back in the pan?

Yes, please. Are you on time, Simmie? Yeah, I think so.

Yeah.

The bhajis go on top of the puree

as she continues to cook her fish.

Got to cook it a little bit more? For as long as I possibly can.

Three minutes have quickly run down to one.

Georgia helps by adding the green mango pickle

and Westy decants the garam masala bisque.

Smells delicious.

How long have I got left?

That's time now, so you need to get this food on the plate

and get it up. OK.

The monkfish is sliced and plated,

then sprinkled with buckwheat and salty fingers.

SHE SIGHS There we are. Thank you.

She's using red and white bowls to look like Poke Balls.

The dish is called Galar Masala,

and the inspiration is Pokemon Sword And Shield.

Happy? I'll find out in a sec, I guess. You will.

OK.

The coriander oil on top of the bisque,

it's quite nice to look at when you pour that sauce.

Is the cook on your monkfish as you'd like it to be?

Personally, I would like to give it a little bit more time than it had.

Let's start with the cooking of the fish.

It's not very well-cooked. Yeah. It's a bit chewy.

It feels like she's just missed the mark on the cooking.

Are you happy with your bhaji?

I think maybe a little bit less cooking.

The bhaji is crispy.

I really... I love the bhaji.

It brought her personality to the plate.

You're happy with your sauce?

I'm very, very happy with the spicing,

but there could be more of, like, the fishy tones in it.

What would you score yourself for this dish?

I would score myself a six or a seven.

So I'm going to give that a five.

For the fish course, you really need to nail your fish.

Yeah, I'd go with a five, as well.

Yeah, myself, as well. Five.

All right, guys. How was it?

Really happy with the sauce.

Yeah, the sauce was absolutely delicious. Loved that.

Finally, it's Mark. He spoons browned butter onto his plaice,

and as it cooks, he begins plating. Ooh. The sea.

This is the trim from the cucumber balls,

so I just blitz them down and make a puree.

Next on is his kimchi,

a fermented white radish salad with fresh cucumber.

He then drizzles on his oyster-leaf oil

and adds sprinkles of crispy nori seaweed.

You've got six minutes, Mark.

Six minutes? Six minutes to the pass. I'll be ready in two.

Another minute.

He whisks up his buttermilk dashi foam and poaches his oysters.

Look. Come around this side.

Oh, wow. I know!

SuperTed to the rescue!

How's the fish looking? I'm happy with it.

Finally, the plaice is balanced on top of the kimchi,

then on goes the oyster and the pearls,

and to give the impression of water, he surrounds it with foam.

"Help, SuperTed! They're stealing our pearls!"

So, inspiration from SuperTed.

Right. Let's go.

Good luck, Chef. Thank you.

I think the plaice is beautifully cooked.

It's really, really delicate. Ancl that oyster is just gorgeous.

The plaice, is it cooked how you want it to be cooked?

Yeah, I'm happy with the plaice.

It's just there, so it's flaking off.

And how about the little pearls?

I thought they added a really nice layer of texture to it,

and you got that fresh oyster taste on the outside of it.

Oyster pearls came out how you wanted them to come out?

Yep, exactly how I wanted them. And you taste the oyster.

So then you've got that buttermilk dashi foam.

I think it helps bring a creaminess to the dish.

What would your score yourself for this dish?

Well, I had a eight last year.

I think this is a better all-round dish,

and visual, as well,

so I have to say nine.

I'm going to go with a nine. I'd give it a ten.

Wow.

Simmie. Another ten.

Hi. Hello, sir.

How did you feel that went for you? Good. Yeah, I was happy.

Well, we all loved it. Absolutely. We thought it was fantastic.

Any particular highs for you?

I think they all clone better than they did on their starter course.

They all seemed like much more rounded plates of food.

So, yeah, one of us is going home.

Bit nervous and anxious for the scores now. Yeah.

It's up to you to do the scoring. I don't envy your position at all.

Yeah. It's time to make those tough decisions.

Currently, Mark is leading on eight,

with Westy and Georgia tied on six

and Simmie on five.

How are you doing, Chefs? Nervous. Nervous.

Georgia, for your dish, The Important Message,

your little props were fun.

The dish was definitely more on brief.

The cooking of the halibut was perfect.

Your curry and mussel veloute was well-seasoned.

The batter scraps brought great texture to the dish.

Your crusty potatoes probably need to be a little bit crispier.

You said it was meant to represent a chip,

so I would pan-fry it on both sides if I was you,

to represent that chip better.

I do still feel you're playing it slightly safe.

For a competition, I feel like you need to ramp it up slightly.

Westy. For your dish, Gulp.

It was interactive with the video element.

The halibut was nicely cooked.

Your breadcrumbed mussel was crisp and, as you said,

needed a little bit more salt.

The sweetcorn chowder sauce had a slight smokiness to it,

and it didn't overpower the dish.

You had the chorizo crisps on there, which added a little bit of heat.

I do think you could mix that through your sweetcorn.

Would bring the dish together a bit better.

Simmie, for your dish, Galar Masala.

I like how you tied it together with your Pokemon bowl and your plates.

The garam masala bisque was fantastic.

The Pokemon rice ball was really nice.

It had great acidity running through it.

The monkfish badges were overcooked.

They were crispy and they were dried out.

The real issue that I feel like you had here was your monkfish tail.

I don't think it was correctly prepped.

No. You left a bit of membrane on the outside of there,

therefore when you cooked it, it tightened up

and became extremely chewy and a little bit inedible.

Mark, for your dish,

"Help, SuperTed! They're stealing our pearls!"

I thought your SuperTed presentation was really fun.

The plaice was moist.

It pulled apart really beautifully.

The oyster pearls gave an oyster note.

Freshness from the cucumber.

The whole oysters, they're meaty and they're salty,

and they gave the whole dish a really good texture.

I actually think you could serve a little bit more kimchi

and a little bit less cucumber.

Your buttermilk dashi foam, it tasted fantastic -

I just wanted a little bit more of it.

And so to the scores.

Georgia, I'm giving you...

...a SEVEN.

If you go further in the competition,

I'd love to see more personality from you on these plates.

Mark.

I'm scoring you...

...an eight.

Your fish course brought the room to life.

Just joyful and elegant.

Just a beautiful little moment. Well done. Thank you.

Westy.

I'm scoring you...

...a SEVEN.

This dish has bags of potential, I think.

All I would say is just dial the flavours up.

And, Simmie, I'm scoring you...

...a six.

That means Simmie, unfortunately, you will be leaving us.

We have loved having you with us. You've got so much potential.

I hope you're going to come back again. I will.

For the rest of you, get some rest,

because tomorrow, it's mains and desserts.

You're going to need it.

Best of luck, everyone. Thank you. Thanks.

SIMMIE SIGHS Well... It was tough, wasn't it? Yeah. Yeah. Well clone to all of you.

The scores were close. Yeah. Everything was really, really close.

I'm clearly a bit disappointed.

I think it comes down to rushing and not panicking as much,

but panicking a little bit.

I'm ahead now for Wales, so I've got 16 points.

I really want to go to the judges' Chamber.

I'm going to put in 100%.

My eye's always been on the prize and it's getting harder

because those points are getting closer and closer.

Obviously, me and Georgia are bang-on rivals at the moment.

I'm a bit worried now for the rest of my dishes.

My main course, again, is quite simple,

but it's just a case of head down.

It's so close, so it's anybody's game.

Tomorrow, we have a surprise for the three remaining chefs...

That was a real curve ball thrown at us, wasn't it?

...and the pressure is rising in the kitchen.

BEEP! I can't control my shakes!

...as they try to outdo one another...

Hot stuff coming through.

I'd love a ten.

...to secure a place in the final two.

lech yd da. lech yd da.