Original subtitles

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

Ooh-la-la!

...are heading to the Great British Menu kitchen.

Hot stuff coming through.

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

one of the most prestigious prizes in a chef's career.

Rock 'n' roll!

This year, the banquet is celebrating 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...

SQUEALS OF DELIGHT

Isn't that amazing!

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

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'd be snakes! Yeah.

...and bright young guns...

One each. Oh, 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.

That's amazing!

Just as the likes of Mr Bean, Rupert Bear, Pingu

and Fireman Sam delight their audience...

Back-up 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.

Tom, so nice to see you!?

What?!

Of course they are! It's Great British Menu.

Game on, people!

Battling it out this week are the best chefs from Scotland.

LAUGHTER

So, I'm the princess!

Oh, my God!

This week, the top chefs from Scotland are drawing inspiration

from comics and cartoon characters that originated in their nation.

Prepare for culinary takes on

DC Thomson's legendary comic book heroes

including Dennis The Menace, Oor Wullie, and even Bananaman.

Our first Scot today is Great British Menu newcomer

and Michelin Green Star winner Mark McCabe.

I definitely feel like a bit of the underdog

but will be cooking my little socks off to try and get as far as I can.

Next, another first-timer, Nigerian-born Babatunde Abifarin

who showcases his African cuisine in Edinburgh.

Hi. Hello, hello, hello. How are you?

I'm Mark. Abi. Nice to meet you.

My flavours are from all over Africa.

How's the nerves?

It's quite a lot, isn't it? Oh, the same here.

Having your flavours from Scotland as well, that's very important

in what I'm trying to do.

So, I think that is what's going to give me the edge.

Newcomer Kevin Dalgliesh from Aberdeen

wants to show what Scots can do in the kitchen.

The main goal for this week is certainly to get to the judges

and then get a dish to the banquet would be absolutely fantastic.

Adam Handling completes the line-up,

hoping that third time's the charm.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Morning, chaps.

He had an emotional time of it last year,

just missing out on getting a dish to the banquet.

Nice to meet you. Welcome back.

CHUCKLES Thank you very much.

If I do well and I don't mess up

and I don't lose my temper or get stressed as I did last year,

I think I have a good shot.

How are we all today? Good. You?

I always get that butterflies every time I step in this kitchen.

It get any easier? No. I don't think it does.

Hello, chefs.

Hello, Andi. Oh, you're back!

I sometimes question, why am I back?

No, really, you got close last time, huh? This close.

Scotland has done very well historically in this competition

and I'm sure that you clutch of chefs are going to be no different.

Let's hope so.

So, we're going to start with canape.

Canape needs to be elegant.

It needs to be sharp. It needs to be beautiful.

It needs to be full of your heart and soul.

I want your veteran to see what you can do.

Are you ready to go? Yeah, ready.

Best of luck to everybody. I'll see you shortly.

Thanks very much. Thank you.

The canapes are a chance for the chefs to create

a fabulous first impression.

And whilst they won't be scored,

they will be used in the event of a tie-break.

Your...corn. Oh?

I'm not panicking yet.

Adam is using the leftover ingredients

from the rest of his menu in a pea and caviar tart.

These are my pea skins from the waste.

Mark is skinning char, a cold water member of the salmon family,

to serve as a croustade.

I'm going to cure it, smoke it, and that will be the main element

once it's dressed with a little tomato reduction

and some concasse tomato.

Meanwhile, Abi is braising goat for a bite-sized taco.

This is an opportunity for me to show a bit of my background,

a bit of Scotland as well.

And Kevin is marinating duck for a tartare.

None of the chefs yet know which veteran they need to impress.

BUZZER

Oh, that's me.

What about if Aktar Islam walked through the door?

Abi, how would you feel? I'd like it if he walks through the door

because I know he works with loads of spices.

Tom Aikens? I know that he's not going to take any prisoners.

Paul Ainsworth? I'm kind of excited to meet anyone, to be honest.

Heading their way is a chef

who's no stranger to getting dishes to the banquet.

Ooh-la-la.

Are you all ready?

I am. Yeah. Yeah.

30 seconds.

When we say 30 seconds,

I mean an actual 30 seconds, not a chef's 30 seconds, OK?

He's head chef and owner of London's Muse restaurants

and in 1996 became the youngest British chef

to achieve two Michelin stars.

All right. Can I have you all at the pass now, please. Thank you.

There he is. (Oh, my God.)

Hello, everybody. It's Tom Aikens.

So, tell me, Adam, what have we got here? It's a pea and caviar tart.

Lots of different types of peas.

What do we have here?

So it's a char belly and tail,

lightly cured with a tomato reduction,

tomato concasse, a little creme fraiche, crispy fish skin

and some shiso. Brilliant. Chef. All right.

What have we got here? So we've got a cone of duck and venison tartare,

chicken parfait, toasted greens.

Hello, chef. How are you?

Here we have braised neck of goat with some polenta taco shells, some

sweetcorn and some corn juice.

Wow.

Good luck, guys. Thank you. I look forward to it.

Some tasty snacks there, so, thank you. Lovely. Thanks.

Wow.

Tom is a legend in the game.

I'm looking forward for him to try my style of cooking.

I was delighted Tom came through the doors.

I think he's such a high-regarded chef.

It's pretty nerve-racking.

Tom's got quite the reputation. Mildly intimidated.

He's a guy that doesn't mince his words, but sometimes you need

a good kick up the bum.

So I would like you to rank them.

I've put Mark first. A, the right flavour combination between sort

of fatty of the belly of the char and the acidity

from the tomatoes. Good flavours. Delicious.

Then Adam, only slight thing with his peas and caviar

which is a great combination, which is the temperature

is a little bit too chilled for me. It should be cold in the middle.

Very nicely balanced, nice and sweet.

Kevin's looked great and also tasted really lovely as well.

So far they're all very, very different, aren't they? Yeah.

Yeah. And then Abi's taco shell with the pulled goat.

I just thought the taco shell was a bit chewy.

That's a mouthful.

It's got nice flavours in there. Mm.

But really kind of thumbs up for everybody there.

Yes, thumbs up. There wasn't a dud.

Yay! There wasn't a dud. No.

What a good place to start.

Onto the first scored and themed course - starters. This year,

not only do the dishes need to link to the theme, they also

have to be vegan.

Abi is basing his starter around a fruity superhero.

Abi. Hi, Andi. Talk to us about your dish.

Title of my dish is The Banana is Loaded, which is inspired

by DC Thomson's Bananaman.

Bananaman. Bananaman.

Good old Eric. You love Eric?

Oh, yeah, yeah. The bananas are the plantain I see, yes? So, yes.

Three different types of plantains, unripe plantain, the ripe plantain

and overripe plantain as well.

OK. So they all have different flavour profiles.

Right. So I'll be using the unripe plantain for my hummus.

I'll also be doing falafel using the overripe plantain,

which I'll be coating in dukkah, using pistachios.

Then the ripe plantain

I'll be using that just fried and seasoned as well.

Ancl I'll also be using the banana skin as well. Oh, yes.

Using the skin? Using the skin to make almost like a vegan bacon.

Is there any part of this dish that you need to kind

of really perfect it?

The spicing is very important.

I come from a background of using loads of spices,

so it's all about getting the right spice balance.

Excellent. Sounds really interesting.

It's good I like bananas, innit?

Like Abi,

Kevin's inspiration also comes from a Scottish DC Thomson comic.

My dish is Vegetables Are Not Evil.

Inspired by the Be a no,

which they had an edition of Attack Of The Evil Vegetables.

I'm going to put a hummus in there.

I'm going to aerate the hummus.

So I'm going to do an ash-baked celeriac.

So I'm going to burn some hay, get the blackness onto the celeriac,

and really get it shiny.

Beetroot is great when it's salt-baked. Yeah.

The flavour is great. It stops it bleeding really.

So you've got different nuts going on there. What's going on with

those? So the cashews, we're going to put through the hummus. Yeah.

Ancl we're going to make a lovely hazelnut dressing. just sort

of describing certain things and you get all smiley and happy.

Oh, well, that's good.

Adam is hoping that his vegan dish, inspired by a classic tale bearing

the voice of Scotland's king of comedy, will give him a head start

on the scoreboard.

The dish is called The Mouse That Saved The Lion.

The inspiration is from Aesop's fable.

How is that connected to Scotland?

In 2014, it was made into an animation where Billy Connolly

was the narrator as well. There you go.

So, you know, yeah. Can't get more Scottish than that.

So I'm going to do a little roasted red pepper set custard,

and then I'm going to make a savoury basil sorbet.

Oh. I'm going to make a tuile using all the skins.

I'm not going to waste anything like that. The tomato skins and what else in there?

Tomato skins. A little bit of flour, margarine.

Mm. And I'm going to mix it with a little bit of smoked

paprika as well. Ancl have you practised that before?

Yes.

And finally, Mark, who like Kevin,

has based his dish on a Dennis the Menace escapade.

Called Behind Bars.

Dennis actually hasn't clone anything wrong but gets caught and blamed

for everything and goes to prison.

So it's a savoury porridge prison food, but a rich mushroom porridge

with some pearled spelt for some texture. Mm-hm.

Some pearl barley koji, a little black

truffle in there as well, a mushroom garum as well.

So trying to pack as much flavour into it as possible without relying

on the old dairy.

I also have a koji tuile that's going to be on the side

with a mushroom garam emulsion.

Well, it sounds beautiful. I hope it works out for you.

I can't wait to taste it.

Abi starts with his most unusual element - vegan bacon made from ripe

plantain skins marinated in soy sauce, maple syrup,

paprika and garlic.

It's a bold move, as it might not be to everyone's taste.

Putting food in front of Tom Aikens is going to be scary.

I need him to also understand my style of cooking,

so I'm going to go a bit more gentle with the spices.

Kevin rolls the dough for his crispbread and slices carrots,

which he presses into the dough.

Hopefully, they're colourful cos I'm going to pop all these carrots on.

It'll be nice and crisp and that's

going to finish off the hummus really well.

He encases beetroot in a salt dough, hoping for a juicy

and flavourful result, and applies a charcoal rub

to celeriac before roasting.

Adam mixes egg substitute with flour, sugar and tomato powder,

which he blitzes into a paste for his tuile.

So all my skins from my tomatoes that I've peeled, I've dried them

in the dehydrator and I've just blended them into a powder.

Ancl that's what I'm going to be making the tuile for,

for the top of the dish.

There'll be a battle of the tuiles.

Although Mark's is being made with a type of fermented rice called

koji, which he is blending with flour, salt and sugar

to make his smooth paste.

I believe Adam is also doing a tuile, interesting to see who's

got the better vegan recipe.

So, starters are here and they're plant-based this year.

What do you think about this?

No, I love that. I think, in the UK, choice of vegetables

that we have is enormous and the chefs can really be creative

in terms of the taste, the textures, the methods of cooking, the style

of the dish. You know, I really want to see some great creative dishes,

which, on paper, of what I've seen,

they look all really good.

As the pressure mounts, Abi con fits garlic cloves in oil

and blends chickpeas with green plantains, lemon juice and oil

to make his hummus.

Then he adds the blended con fit garlic.

So I'm hoping to achieve a mellow garlic flavour - not too sharp,

and also helps the plantain hummus to be less gloopy.

As the chef owner of Farin Road in Edinburgh, Abi specialises

in Pan-African cuisine.

I'm originally from Nigeria and I grew up around African food.

My style of cooking is traditional African cooking.

I think I fell in love with Scotland

ever since I moved here in 2006 and my career and my experience

has mainly been rooted in Scotland.

To be on Great British Menu is a massive, massive opportunity

and I hope I do Scotland proud.

Back in the kitchen, Abi blitzes toasted spices to make his falafel

before frying the marinated plantain skins

to make his unconventional vegan bacon.

Can I take one? Oh, yes, please.

So just refresh me how you did this.

So it's the plantain peel, marinated in some maple syrup, some soy sauce,

a bit of paprika and some garlic. They're crispy. Yeah.

Yep.

So the idea is to get a bit of charring in the tray

before going in the oven.

Abi's plantain bacon, I really loved it.

Very unique, very different, but just has to watch the colour

on that and make sure it's not too dark. Otherwise, tasty.

For his custard, Adam mixes red pepper puree into potato milk,

oat cream and seaweed extract.

Just tasted the mousse - just needs a little bit more spice.

Meanwhile, Kevin is making hummus using a base liquid of vegetable

stock, coriander seeds, black peppercorns, lemons and oranges.

He then adds it to chickpeas and roasted cashew nuts.

I want to make it quite light, so I'm going to put it in the

second gun and really aerate it.

Maybe a touch more salt. It's quite light.

Kevin's hummus has got this base liquid.

I think it's really nice, brings an acidity to it and a depth of flavour

that you wouldn't normally have in a hummus.

With his paste too thick for his home-made moulds,

Mark is having tuile trouble.

I'm not quite happy with the mix, erm...

...not entirely sure what's going on.

Mark, originally from just outside Dundee, is head chef

at The Ethicurean Restaurant in Somerset.

The restaurant is about a connection with nature.

We're set in this beautiful walled garden.

I spent two and a half years at River Cottage,

working under Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

I was really attracted to the way that every ingredient was treated

with some sort of boyish love from Hugh.

How long...? One minute, chef.

It's an hon our to be representing Scotland.

It's pretty terrifying, as well, there's some amazing chefs.

I want to do myself proud and show what I can do, but that's

as far as it goes. I don't want to think any further than that.

And if I get deeper into the competition, that's

just a bonus for me.

Service, please.

Back in the kitchen, Mark remakes his tuile mix, this time

using a silicon mould.

Hi, Mark. Hi, chef. Any issues yet?

I had a bit of issue with my tuile mix. In the cooking or the taking out the mould or...?

Sometimes the psyllium husk, it's... Yeah.

It needs a bit more of a tweak.

Tend to its own. Yeah. Yes, indeed.

And the chanterefles, are they what we have here? Yeah.

Can I try one? Absolutely. Yeah.

Yeah.

So Mark is making a koji tuile.

It's a mushroom dish.

He's already had one lot of failures, I'm afraid.

It's an element that will bring, I think, sort of a bit of intricacy

and a bit of delicacy to his dish.

But it just depends if he can pull it off or not.

On the other side of the kitchen, Adam's home and dry with his tuiles.

So he moves on to his sorbet,

mixing glucose, citrus juices,

basil and sugar.

This the basil sorbet?

I didn't cook the basil at all or blanch it, it's completely raw.

So you get that really fresh flavour.

Do you want to try it? Love to, yeah.

It's raw basil, yeah? Yeah, raw basil,

lemon and orange juice,

blended in. And no, no issues as yet?

No issues yet.

Abi will be serving his Bananaman-inspired starter first.

And with the clock ticking, he's not happy with an element of his dish.

Got some really good bits of plantain bacon, but also half of

them are a little bit charred.

So to support that, I'm doing some plantain chips.

He quickly slices then deep-fries some green plantain

along with his falafel.

Well, the falafel is on.

Finishing those with some raw cauliflower.

Two minutes now, Abi. Yeah.

He dresses with carrot and pine nuts.

One minute left, Abi.

Yes, Chef.

Plantain bacon and chips complete the dish.

So the name of my dish is The Banana is Loaded, inspired

by Bananaman. It's definitely a banana theme going on there.

Oh, yeah.

All right, well, bring your dish and we'll go and taste it.

Here we go. Plantain-tastic, banana-tastic.

What are your thoughts in terms of plantain crisps and the bacon?

Definitely happy with the textures, that they will snap well.

That caramelised one I think is so burnt.

Ancl the falafel? The falafel, just about is quite dense.

I'd like it to be a bit more fluffy.

I feel like you could take somebody out with that.

Dennis the Menace and his slingshot.

So now that you've cooked it and now you're eating it,

what are your thoughts? I would say the hummus needs a touch of salt.

Seasoning wise, it's fine.

Yeah, I think it's maybe slightly under-seasoned,

if I'm being really honest. I think it's massively under-seasoned.

Yeah.

Where would you score this dish?

A couple, couple of mishaps along the way.

I'll be very, very happy

if I do get a seven.

I would give him a five.

I'd be inclined to agree as well. I was thinking around a five.

Kevin? I'd give him six.

Hi, Abi. WOW.

That was intense. Was it?

Oh, yeah. Are you happy with the dish?

I think I had a bit of seasoning issue there.

All righty.

Kevin's starter is next.

He aerates his hummus...

...and fries pieces of onion squash followed by cauliflower.

OK, we've got two minutes, please. Yes, Chef. Onto the pass.

He drizzles his hazelnut and maple syrup dressing onto the plates.

What do you have here, the little black vegetable?

That's the celeriac, which I've just rubbed in ash.

I've got the beetroot that's been salt-baked.

I've got my little florets of broccoli.

A dome of aerated hummus.

And topped with his vegetable crispbread and beetroot leaves.

OK. Kevin, clue on the pass, please.

Yeah.

The name of the dish is Vegetables Are Not Evil, and the inspiration

is The Be a no. All right, well, let's go and try it.

Do you think people will understand the story of what you're trying to say?

I hope so. I mean, every kid, even my son, I think they think

every vegetable is evil.

So I want to try and say that vegetables are not evil.

It feels a little like a meze plate.

I'm not 100% sure it's a dish. It's a dish.

So how do you think all the contrasting texture of everything

works well together? Yeah. I mean,

some of the vegetables are soft, some are crispy.

You've got the crispness of the bread.

It's kind of a little bit soft under where the vegetables

are sitting on it, a bit chewy. Yeah.

Ancl you think the seasoning in the hummus is as it should be?

Yeah, I think I want it to be nice and light and fresh.

Abi, what do you think about the hummus? I love the flavour.

The only thing I would say is it's a little bit

too light for me.

Is it a hummus or is it a chickpea foam?

Well, it's interesting, isn't it? But it's tasty.

What would you give it?

I think it's colourful. It's tasty.

It's got a great link to the brief.

So a strong eight.

It'd say a seven. It's tasty.

I'll give an eight.

I'll give it a seven.

How was that, chef? Oh, yeah, bit nervy. How do you find it?

The hummus was so tasty.

We're debating whether it's a hummus or a chickpea foam, but...

Well, hummus, I'd say.

Adam's due next. With his tuiles decorated,

he's plating up early.

Starting with his set red pepper custard...

Quite intricate plating, Adam, you need an army for this.

...which he decorates with tomatoes and hazelnuts.

He pipes on red pepper puree_

You got four minutes, Adam.

Yep. No problem. I'll be on the pass.

To be fair, I didn't think I would finish this quick.

Ah, broke!

All right? Yeah.

After a quick prop repair, he attempts to rocher

the chilled basil sorbet.

You got two minutes now, Adam.

Yeah.

I can't get my spoon warm enough.

So it's being a pain in the bottom.

Laughing-

How long do I have? One minute.

One minute, you say.

And to finish - his hand-decorated tuiles.

BLEEP. Oh, you little...

Give that one to me, Adam.

0K?

So, Adam, the name of your dish and the inspiration behind it?

The Mouse That Saved The Lion from the Aesop fables.

All right. We should go and try it.

Let's do it. There you go.

Do all the components work well for you?

Yep. In terms of the flavours of the basil sorbet, the acidity,

do you think that's at the right point?

Basil sorbet is acidic.

I didn't want to make it sweet, like an ice cream

or anything like that.

It just works together, you know, it's soft, it's crunchy,

it's packed full of flavour.

Ancl then the intricacy of the tuile, do you think that adds to the dish?

It adds a little texture. It's a little playful as well.

I think the tuile was the star for me. The tuile is fantastic.

The tuile is fantastic.

You have tuile? No, you don't. You have tuile. I've got a tuile.

Is it tuile worry? Having a "tuiley" bad time.

So, Adam, if you were to score this dish? I'd like to give

it a nine, but it's you, so I'm going to say an eight.

OK.

So if I were to score an eight, what would you change?

A little touch of rock salt on the tomatoes.

That's it.

OK.

I think it's a strong nine.

Strong nine.

Yeah, I'd say nine. Maybe a high eight.

Hi, Adam. How was that?

It was all right.

Happy with it? Were yous happy with it? It was lovely.

You're all looking at me like I did something wrong.

No, no, it's delicious. The tuile was amazing.

Thanks. It was really delicious.

Mark's is the final starter, but will his re-made tuiles cause

as much trouble as Adam's?

All fine.

No massive drama.

He barbecues the maitake mushrooms.

Did you do a full mushroom dish because you're a fun guy?

THEY LAUGH

Once you get to know me better, Adam,

you'll know I am not a fun guy. It's smells great.

Ga rlicky, buttery.

Mark's mushroom and barley porridge is the first

of many fungi elements into the bowls.

The barbecued maitake mushrooms get a coating of medlarjelly.

They're a really nice sort of rich caramel flavour.

Ancl just to give a bit of sweetness to the dish as well.

They're layered along with black

truffle and pickled chanterelle mushrooms.

A lot of mushrooms, not "much room" or anything else you might say.

Mark pipes mushroom puree onto his koji tuiles.

OK, two minutes, Mark. Thank you very much.

A sprinkle of mushroom garam and hazelnuts to make koji

tuile sandwiches and the dish gets a short stretch in jail.

The dish is called Behind Bars.

It's inspired by an edition of The Be a no, where Dennis actually

hasn't clone anything wrong but goes to prison anyway.

Well, let's go.

I love the props. Oh, I love the props.

It looks good. Smells good.

Yeah, it does smell good. It really does smell great, doesn't it?

So, Mark, with all the different mushrooms going on, do you think

you can really taste their distinct flavours?

I mean, I guess you could argue that they are all mushroomy. Yeah.

Potentially could have achieved a similar result just using one,

but it wouldn't have looked nearly as good. Yeah.

Are you tasting different mushrooms? No.

Or are you getting one flavour?

One flavour.

Ancl then the koji tuile, was that the right amount of flavour

that you wanted in there? Yeah.

It needed to be quite punchy and sharp, I think, to just help lift the dish.

What about the tuile with the mushroom puree?

That had some flavour.

I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with it. Mm.

But there could be more right with it? There could be more. Yeah.

If you had to score your dish?

I'm pretty harsh on myself.

I would say a seven, maybe an eight.

I'm going to go seven.

There's nothing wrong with it. A seven.

Yeah, seven.

There he is. How are you?

Oh! That's horrible, isn't it?

A nervous wreck coming in there. Ah! Feel like one.

Did he give you the death stare?

I wasn't looking him in the eye.

Oh!

First course done, started.

How have they done, Tom?

Listen, it's always so difficult.

I think, you know, there's three new guys in there, and I have to say,

I'm quite impressed at how they all went around getting

their first course out.

It's almost just like getting your feet wet.

Yeah, exactly. I think it's just settling nerves, working through it.

It's always the sort of the time pressure, as we know, it kind

of suddenly drips away.

Have any of the chefs done better than the others?

Yes, definitely.

How do you think Tom is going to score us all?

He's a guy who knows perfection. Right? Yeah.

And I think with us all being professionals,

if there was an error, which we had made, he would have picked it up.

Yeah. Yeah.

So where we started off? I'm quite happy. Good. Quite happy.

You're in a great mood, aren't you?

I know it's making me a little nervous, but, hey.

Moment of truth, guys, let's see what Tom says.

Let's do it. Here we go.

A reasonably respectable start from all of you.

And it's lovely to see you all settling in

in our Great British Menu kitchen.

Abi, for your dish,

The Banana is Loaded.

I thought it was fun and a light-hearted presentation.

The plantain hummus,

texturally it needed more body.

I thought it was a little bit under-seasoned as well.

The plantain peel bacon had a burnt, sort of slight, acrid taste to it,

which is a bit of a shame because the concept I really loved.

You then made some last-minute plantain chips.

Good idea.

But I just thought they were a little bit bland.

The plantain falafel, as you know, were pretty dense.

Ancl again, I think they lacked some spice and just a bit more flavouring.

So, Kevin, your dish,

Vegetables are not Evil.

The cashew nut hummus was well aerated.

It was light and had a good depth of flavour.

The vegetables all tasted as they should,

but texturally I thought they were all a little bit too soft.

Ancl the pumpkin, the beetroot and celeriac just could

have had that little bit more bite to them.

The smoked hazelnut dressing was lovely.

It added another dimension of flavour to the dish and brought

the acidity which it needed.

Adam, for your dish, The Mice That Saved The Lion.

I thought you had really thought this through well,

and how to bring the fable to life.

The basil sorbet had a really lovely basil flavour,

and it wasn't too sweet.

If you get to cook this again, I would definitely use a teaspoon

of the basil sorbet.

Not a big rocher.

The tuille was beautifully made

and a great idea to use those tomato skins.

I just thought just a little bit more paprika to give that a bit

more of a spicy kick.

Mark, for your dish, Behind Bars.

Your posh prison style porridge definitely hit the brief.

The savoury porridge had a really good mushroomy flavour

and the texture from the spelt and the pearl barley

worked really well.

But I just think it could have just clone with a touch more seasoning.

Onto the koji tuile,

we know you had a few little problems, but I'm glad you stuck

to it and it worked really well.

Nice touch. Thank you.

And so to the scores.

Abi,

I'm going to give you."...

...a five.

Abi, I was really excited about the potential for this dish,

but you made mistakes that I'm pretty sure

you're going to be kicking yourself for.

Kevin,

I'm going to give you."...

...a seven. Thank you.

Your flat bread was really beautiful.

I just think those vegetables just need to sing.

Adam,

I'm going to score you...

...an eight.

Adam, that tuile was amazing.

Such depth of flavour. Excellent.

Thank you. And, Mark,

I'm going to give you."...

...an eight.

I really enjoyed the presentation at the pass with your dish.

It was simple. It had a full connection to the brief,

and I really enjoyed the cooking. So well done.

Well done, all of you.

Next up, it's the fish course.

Yeah, and I'm really looking forward to it.

So carry on where you left off,

the starters is a really, as they say, a good start.

A good start.

See you in a minute. Thank you very much.

Not bad. Yeah?

Yeah, it was good. Well clone.

Yeah.

Well done. Well done. Well done.

Now on to the fish.

Next, it's the fish course.

And with their place in the competition at stake, pressure

is running high.

Getting a five for my starter, yeah, I'm gutted.

Gutted. I definitely don't want to be the person going home.

I think right now to save myself, I've got to keep an eye on Kevin.

If I can beat Kevin on the fish course, I've got a chance.

Nope.

A little bit manlier than me, Kevin.

Any chance you could...? I'm not sure about that.

The competition is really, really high.

The standards are high, but I'm just going to concentrate

on what I do. Don't get wrapped up in what anybody else is doing.

Yeah, let's have a look.

That's it. BLEEP.

Thank you. You must've slackened it for me.

I'm quite apprehensive going into the fish course.

I feel it's probably not my strongest dish.

Throughout my menu, my starter is my weakest dish. In my eyes, I think.

So getting an eight for that, the only way is up.

Last year, Adam netted a ten for his fish dish, and he's hoping

to reel in the same score this time.

The title of the dish is A Princess Should Not Have Weapons.

Right. From Brave. Brave.

I love Brave.

Do you remember the scene where the mum turns into a bear?

She gets hungry on the way and they start eating

these poisonous berries.

So these are the poisonous berries. Right.

And then she made a little barbecue and does salmon for the mum.

Aha! This dish will be that whole scene.

So I'm using what you would normally throw away on a salmon.

So the tail, the skin and the belly.

Oh, yum. And I'm going to serve it with bilberries.

Wild blueberries. Bilberries, beautiful. Bilberries, yeah.

The belly, I'm going to be barbecuing it heavily only on the skin side.

OK. So it's completely black.

And then on the plates will be a light smoked celeriac puree.

I'm making a little cheese because I'm using the whey

in the sauce, so it's very light.

And inside the sauce you'll have garlic capers,

lacto fermented stalks, lots of different types of berries you find

in the forest. That's fantastic.

While Adam reduces his bilberries,

Mark is softening grated turnip

in butter to make a puree.

The dish is called Spindrift, and it's based on an animation

of the same name by an award-winning animator called Selina Wagner.

So it's really beautifully animated.

It's set on a very bleak Scottish beach.

How are you getting all this beauty onto a plate?

Everything's going to be quite bleak looking.

So everything's white but white turnip ribbons that are going

to look like a sand dune, topped with sea vegetables. The trim

of the turnip I'm going to turn into a caramelised turnip puree.

Got Arctic char, a little caviar as well.

Ancl it all comes down to a smoked yoghurt whey sauce,

which I'm going to foam.

So we've got that really nice Spindrift across the plate.

Wow. Bleak beauty, Tom. Flavour combinations sound lovely.

CLATTERING

But on the other side of the kitchen, things

are less harmonious.

BLEEP.

Adam's only just started his fish dish, but he's already in trouble.

So I took my eye off my bilberry sauce for my jam.

It burnt, so I'm making it again.

Meanwhile, Abi will be looking to avoid any mistakes as a strong

fish course is needed to keep him in the competition.

Hi, Andi. How are you, darling? Yeah. Not too bad, not too bad.

Deep sigh you just gave. Aye.

I I Aye- II TH EY LAUGH

That's the Scotsman in me.

So let's talk about your fish course.

So the title of my dish is Yabbies And Witchetty Grubs.

Yabbies And Witchetty Grubs? Yes.

Which is inspired by Maisie Mac.

So this is a Scottish cartoon? Yeah.

OK. So there's an episode,

she took a trip to Australia. I was going to say yabbies,

this is very Australian. Right? Witchetty grubs. Certainly is.

So they found some yabbies, some witchetty grubs, which is like worms. Yeah.

Got the lobster, which I'm going to be finishing on the barbecue

with some lobster glaze. All the garnishes, samphire,

the sea fingers all look like worm-ish. Right.

So I'm trying to recreate that. So we're not actually getting worms?

Oh, definitely. No, hopefully not.

Shame. Hopefully not. Damn. Shame.

What's this? What's happening here?

Is that going in the rice?

That's myja... jollof bisque.

Oh, so you're making like a jollof rice? Yes.

Oh! Yes. Some of the flavours you've got going on there are going

to work really well. The jollof rice and the lobster,

yeah, it's a great shellfish to cook on the barbecue.

For his Gaelic-inspired shellfish fish course,

Kevin is stuffing razor clams with scallop mousse.

The dish is called Dinna Be Crabbit Wullie.

Crabbit. That's grumpy, isn't it?

Yes, it does. Yeah.

And which Wullie are we talking about? Oor Wullie.

Oor Wullie is a Scottish character created by DC Thomson. Wullie

was famed for being cheeky, using a bucket as a seat

and for speaking the Scots language.

I'm going to make a scallop mousse.

I'm going to bind it with brown crab.

So I'm going to make it into the shape of a bucket.

So it's almost like a lasagne. Sits on a bucket? Sits on a bucket,

and I'm going to use the stuffed razor clams for the rim of the

bucket, put it all together and I made this wonderful crab bisque.

Cor. With a velvet crab, some langoustine shells in there.

I'm going to get loads of aromat in there with basil, lemon juice.

So it's quite light.

Sounds beautiful. Certainly does.

There's nothing more than doing lots of intricate little details

on the dish because it just, it brings it nicely together. Yeah.

Kevin learned his trade working at The Savoy in London.

Now he runs his own restaurant in Aberdeen.

This place is really giving me focus.

It's just been open three months.

I spend more time here than I do at home.

So you've really got to love it.

Ancl I think at this stage of my career,

I'm loving it more than ever.

My cooking style is probably classical, natural,

ancl seasonal certainly. In Scotland,

we have the most wonderful produce,

so we don't want to do a lot with it.

Opening up a restaurant for three months, to getting on

The Great British Menu,

it's just been a whirlwind and I think if I can get a dish

to the banquet, it would just be the icing on the cake.

In the kitchen, Kevin is rolling pasta sheets for his bucket lasagne.

You love that machine. Yeah.

Mark is deboning fillets of Arctic char.

And Abi is scorching peppers...

All on the line at the moment. So go hard or go home.

...and carefully shelling and preparing his luxurious lobster

ready for the barbecue.

Out of the starters, his was the lowest score.

So he's definitely got to push himself now.

Ancl I think subtlety of that lobster needs to be at the forefront

of his dish. Mm.

Meanwhile, Adam is using a stencil to make leaf-shaped crisps

before moving on to his whey sauce.

Hmm.

That's perfect.

Returning chef Adam runs three restaurants, including Frog

in London's theatre district.

He made it to the finals last year, but was pipped to the banquet

by Spencer Metzger.

Great British Menu means an awful lot to me.

It's one of the very few things I haven't quite won yet.

Last year I did pretty good.

I cooked my socks off.

But when you're cooking against someone like Spencer,

it should be called the Great British Spencer Show.

He's a phenomenal chef.

Ready? Yeah.

Bear in mind, this has to be done extremely quickly.

I think what will make me super happy this year

is to get a dish at the banquet.

I came second on my fish course last year, and I think if I can get one

of them to the banquet, I'll be over the moon.

Service, please.

What we got here, then?

Smoked celeriac puree. OK.

Lovely.

Just tasted Adam's celeriac puree.

It's got that nice sort of depth of flavour from the smokiness.

It's fairly rich, you know, nice and creamy.

Ancl I think it'll work well with the other components of his dish.

Having checked his crab and scallop mousse for bits of shell,

Kevin layers it along with pasta into bucket-shaped moulds.

With his lobster glazed, Abi cuts his bisque gel.

How we doing, Mark? Good, Thank you, Chef. All right?

Yeah. What we got here? So this is pickled rock samphire gel. OK.

Which is...quite strong.

It's only going to be a little bit of it on the plate,

but it is the only sort of real acidity that's going into the dish.

So softly, softly. Indeed.

It definitely isn't something I would have tried

or clone before myself.

He's going to have to use this subtly because it is quite strong,

because if he has too much, it's going to sort of kill

the subtlety of the char.

Adam will be first to serve his Brave-inspired dish.

OK, you got two minutes, Adam.

Two minutes.

Now barbecued, his salmon gets a spray of fermented garlic oil.

The cured salmon is plated...

Is that your cheese you're putting on the board there, Adam? Yep.

...along with celeriac puree and the barbecued salmon belly

before adding a garnish of mixed berries.

You got one minute, Adam. One minute. Yep. Yep.

It's topped with leaf-shaped crisps and edible flowers.

Right.

Let's rock and roll.

I forgot something, I need to grab one more thing.

BAGPIPES PLAY

LAUGHTER

So I'm the princess.

Oh, my God! Commitment. That's what we like.

So, Adam, what's the name of the dish

and the inspiration behind it?

The dish is called A Princess Should Not Have Weapons.

And my inspiration is Brave.

On that note, let's disappear. Yeah.

So, you getting Brave from this...

...tonight's scenario?

Be hard pushed not to, I think.

So, Adam, here we are.

Or should I call you Princess?

Princess, please.

Well, Princess, you may remove your wig.

Ah... Sauce, where you want me to put it?

Just all over it. All over? Yes.

But look how beautiful that is. Isn't that fabulous looking?

So you're happy with the cooking of the fish? Out of all the dishes

that I've practised, this one, when I cook it, I eat it all the time.

And I'm really happy with the flavours on this dish.

Bang on. Crispiness.

Softness, still pink. Yeah. Very nice.

There's not much to fault about it. It's really beautiful.

The sauce has got a few elements in there, namely, the caramelised whey,

were you happy with the flavour that brought into the dish? Big time.

I think the sauce is really probably the standout part of the dish.

I'm trying hard to find fault. I can't.

I can't fault it.

What would you score your dish?

I wouldn't change anything to the dish.

I'd add a little bit more sauce, though, because that sauce has got

the cuddles, it's got the acidity and things like that.

But I know that you're way more critical than I am, so I'd give

it a nine.

I'm reluctant to give a ten, but I can't see

how it could be anything else.

It's really nice.

I like to go nine. Ten all day long. Ten all day long.

Welcome back, Princess. How was it?

Yeah, it was good.

Delicious, mate. You like it?

Really good. Top notch.

Wonderful.

Who's up next?

Me. Do you want a hand?

Will do, yeah, please.

Mark starts by plating his turnip puree and ribbons for his dish based

on a Scottish animation.

You've got three minutes there, Mark. Thank you, Chef.

What's in the bag?

Pickled rock samphire gel.

It's pretty pokey, but it's just there to give

a little burst of acidity.

He adds the barbecued Arctic char and his smoked whey sauce.

OK, one minute, Mark. Thank you.

And some sea vegetables and caviar.

So this dish is called Spindrift, and it's inspired by the animation

of the same name by Selina Wagner.

Last-minute rush there. A little bit.

So, do you want to bring the tray? Yeah.

Are you happy with everything on the plate?

I think the sea vegetables could have been a bit neater.

But other than that, I'm pretty happy-

I like it, it looks simple but it does have lots of flavours to it.

Ancl there's a richness from the sauce and smokiness you got from

that, is that what you wanted? Yeah.

I just wanted a hint of the smoke.

I didn't want it to be too intense.

The sauce kind of helps with everything.

Ancl the turnip puree, you happy with that caramelisation? Probably

could've clone a slightly larger amount, which would have given me

a bit longer to cook it and get it a little bit more depth to it.

Caramelised turnip puree underneath, which is silky and lovely. Yummy.

The cooking of the fish, are you happy with that?

I'm really happy with how the fish is cooked.

It's got a nice sort of blistered skin for a little bit

of that extra barbecue flavour.

I would say the only one little thing I would say

is just a little more crispy on the skin.

But other than that, the guy smashed it out of the park in my eyes.

So, Mark, what, if you could,

would you give your dish?

Being the person I am, I'm going to err on the side of caution

and say a seven.

OK. Interesting.

The puree could have been yes, sort of slightly richer

in flavour. The sea vegetables,

I would have liked a bit more time to arrange them slightly nicer.

You know, I'll give him a ten. Nine, I think.

Yeah, very good. I'll go ten.

All right. Thumbs up from the chefs.

Happy? I think so, yeah. What did you guys think of it?

That was a really good dish.

Nice and classical. I gave it a ten.

You did not. I did. Shut up!

I did. I thought I was very nice.

Kevin's fish dish, an ode to a Scottish comic strip, is due next.

His bucket-shaped lasagnes are cooked.

Two minutes, Kevin. Yes, Chef.

So I'm just going to let them rest a sec.

First onto his plate is a base of cucumber, apple and kohlrabi.

Are you happy with your little cabbages? Yes.

They look very cute. You got one minute, Kevin. Yes, Chef.

Just go round.

Just come out like that.

You are due at the pass. Yeah.

He tops his lasagne with caviar, unwraps his stuffed razor clams...

One minute over now, Kevin.

Yeah.

...drizzles foam bisque around the base and serves the remainder

and his lasagnes in buckets.

There you are, chef.

So the name of the dish is Dinnae Be Crabbit Wullie.

The inspiration is Oor Wullie.

I'll bring the sauce, shall I?

How do you think the cooking was of your crab lasagne?

The texture's there, the flavour's there.

It's nice. It's nicely cooked.

I think the pasta's maybe slightly chewy.

And the razor dams?

Added a bit of technique.

Cucumber, apple and kohlrabi, do you think that was the right

texture into the dish? Yeah.

I was just conscious that it was a bit soft, erm, just a last-minute

decision to pull it and just to give it a bit more texture.

I want to love it, but it does nothing for me.

The bisque, how it tastes altogether,

do you think it's got the right sort of flavour? Yes.

It's flavoursome, it's light.

He has perhaps a little too delicate of a touch.

If this is to portray him.

Got a little bit of shell there.

Yeah, I went through it three or four times as well.

Understand where Adam is coming from, but I like the flavours.

You like the flavours.

So what would you score your dish?

I'd like to see even a nine or an eight.

I'll say a high seven.

I'd say six.

Yeah, that's a six for me.

How are you? Hi, Chef. Pretty good.

How was that? Yeah. How'd you find it?

Yeah. It was all right. Yeah. It's nice, it was tasty.

Finally, it's Abi to serve,

but he seems unsure about his lobsters.

Are you happy with your lobsters?

Uh... Yep, in a way.

He adds Parmesan, chicken stock and butter to his jollof rice.

Nice.

OK. You got two minutes there, Abi. Oui, Chef.

He plates his lobster, also fennel.

Mark helps with the sea vegetables.

His jollof rice is added, which he seasons with dried

and grated scallop and serves surrounded by liquid nitrogen.

So the name of my dish is Yabbies and Witchetty Grubs.

Inspired by Maisie Mac's trip to Australia.

You happy, Abi? Uh...

So far so good.

OK, Abi, grab one and then let's go taste it.

So, Abi, what do you think of all the flavours going on there?

Think they're all working well?

Yeah, I think the flavours all work together.

Mark, you're looking at me.

Talk to me.

What's happening on your plate? Everything's just too toned down.

Bland? It probably wouldn't be unfair.

How do you think the lobster is cooked?

Personally, I think the lobster is a touch over.

If you're going to cook lobster, the king of the ocean,

make sure you know how to cook it.

Leaving the intestinal track inside lobster,

if anyone had that in my restaurant, I would...

...| would literally be mortified.

Yeah.

How about you guys? ls yours all right?

Clean.

So the fennel, do you think that adds anything to your dish?

Yeah, I think it's a good complement to the dish.

I hope when he tastes it, he realises that this is a disaster.

What would you give it?

It was a safe seven, but I'd like an eight for the dish.

OK. There's not a lot to like about it, really.

All right, I'll ask you to score first, Kevin.

Four. I'd say a four.

I'd say a three.

Ah, here he is.

Hello, guys. Aye-aye. How are you?

Actually happy with that. I think

I was more relaxed with that dish than any other one I've served.

So. So. End of the fish course. Yes, indeed.

Fair to say there were some peaks and some troughs.

I would say. Definitely. What do you guys think?

I had the intestinal tract still in my lobster, and that's one

of the things that really grinds my gears big time.

Oh, my God. So I wasn't, I wasn't chuffed.

I'm really sorry about that.

The brief and storytelling fitted well amongst three of the dishes,

definitely. You are scoring these chefs.

Is it clear to you the direction that you're headed?

Crystal clear. Right.

As things stand, Adam and Mark lead with eight points,

Kevin has seven and Abi five.

Hello, chefs.

I'm going to hand you over to Tom.

Thank you. Adam.

So for your dish, A Princess Should Not Have Weapons.

Presentation was spot-on and brought the story to life.

The cured tail was light and fresh.

Salmon belly had a lovely smoky flavour.

But I thought that the belly was literally like a minute

of a minute overcooked.

Mark, for your dish, Spindrift.

You definitely conjured up the desolate beach

from the animation using all those lovely, humble ingredients.

I thought the smokiness of the fish and the turnip

worked really well together.

Caramelised turnip puree brought sweetness and richness to the dish.

But I thought it could have been just caramelised a tiny bit more.

Kevin, for your dish, Dinnae Be Crabbit Wullie.

Not bad. Excellent.

Your inspiration of Oor Wullie was clearly close to your heart.

I just didn't think it quite worked on the plate.

The shellfish bisque was, was nice and aerated, which is what you want.

Ancl it didn't overpower the crab.

I thought the razor clam was a beautiful idea.

First time I've seen a razor clam stuffed.

I just thought it needed a touch more seasoning.

The lasagne, the crab and the scallop had a subtle flavour.

However, I thought it was just a tiny bit overcooked.

Abi, for your dish,

Yabbies and Witchetty Grubs.

I liked the story that you were trying to tell.

I was expecting the lobster tail to have a really nice barbecue

flavour. I just didn't think it was there.

I thought the lobster tasted almost like it had been parboiled.

Ancl also, you'd left the intestinal tract in the lobster.

But you had some lovely fennel,

and I thought that was a welcome addition to your dish.

And so to the scores. Adam.

I'm going to give you."...

...a nine. Adam.

Some truly delightful balance and flavour on that plate,

it was a wonderful moment.

Thank you. Mark.

I'm scoring you...

...a nine.

Mark, your dish had all of the bleak romance that I was hoping for.

So well done on that. Kevin.

I'm scoring you...

...a six.

Kevin, if you cook it again,

I would follow Tom's advice because it will probably get you a higher

score. It's got a lot of potential.

Yeah.

And, Abi.

I'm scoring you...

...a five.

Abi, that means, unfortunately, that you'll be leaving us.

It's been lovely to have you in the kitchen and I hope

you've enjoyed your time here.

So for the other three of you, get some rest because tomorrow

it's mains and desserts.

Commiserations, Abi.

Neck and neck with Mark going into the main course.

That's his favourite. That's my favourite.

But my main course is a lot of work, so I'm going to be running.

FAKE SOBBING

I'm feeling quite disappointed in myself.

A bit gutted.

Hopefully be back here next year and do way better.

I'm obviously a few points behind so I'm playing catch up,

but hey, I've got some strong dishes on the way.

It can change so quick in the kitchen.

I definitely always fear the worst,

and it's nice to know that my food stands up

against the other chefs here.

Next time. Happiest clay of my life.

Our Scottish chefs, take it up a gear...

Praise be! I tell you that that is a weight off my mind.

...making sure they don't drop the ball...

...or let their nerves get the better of them.

SQUEAK Oh, excuse me!