Great British Menu

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Great British Menu
Format Cookery
Presented by Jennie Bond (Series 1 & 2)[1]
Narrated by Jennie Bond (Series 3 & 4 )
Language(s) English
No. of series 4
No. of episodes 159 + 5 Specials (to 08 May 2009) (List of episodes)
Production
Running time 29 min. per episode
Broadcast
Original channel BBC Two
Original airing 2006 - Present
External links
Official website

Great British Menu is a BBC television series in which top British chefs compete for the chance to cook one course of a four course banquet. The first series banquet was for the Queen on her 80th birthday. The second series was to cook for the British Ambassador to France at the British Embassy in Paris. The third series was to prepare a banquet to be held at the Gherkin in London, hosted by Heston Blumenthal. In the fourth series, chefs competed to cook at a celebratory dinner for British troops returning from Afghanistan. A further series will air in 2010. [2] For all four series to date, the show's regular timeslot has been 6:30pm from Monday to Friday. Slightly different scheduling applies in Scotland, where the show does not air on Thursday and the weekly final is broadcast on Saturday.

Contents

[edit] Format

The series is presented by Jennie Bond, former BBC Royal Correspondent. Each week, two chefs from a region of the UK create a menu which is tasted and judged by Prue Leith, Matthew Fort and Oliver Peyton. One chef each week goes through to the final, where the judges taste the dishes again and award them marks out of ten. The three dishes that have scored the highest for each course are then put to the public vote. The music to the series was written by Daniel Pemberton.

During the first series, it was decided that a chef could only win one course overall, therefore any chef who won the public vote for a particular course was then eliminated from any subsequent courses they had been shortlisted for. As the results for all four courses were announced on the same day, some chefs were eliminated under this rule after the public had voted for them. This system may have contributed to the subsequent result of chefs from each of the four countries of the UK being represented at the final banquet. During series two, this rule was dropped, as highlighted by Mark Hix winning both the main course and dessert.[3]

[edit] Series one (2006)

The birthday meal for the Queen was on 17 June 2006 and for 300 people, so each dish created had to be suitable for a summer banquet. All recipes have been published in a book by Dorling Kindersley.

[edit] Contestants

[edit] Final result

Starter – smoked salmon with Irish soda bread, woodland sorrel and cress (recipe) – Richard Corrigan

Fish course – pan-fried turbot with cockles and oxtail (recipe) – Bryn Williams

Main course – loin of roe venison with rosti, celeriac, cabbage, carrot and game gravy (recipe) – Nick Nairn

Dessert – custard tart with Garibaldi biscuits (recipe) – Marcus Wareing

[edit] Great British Christmas Menu

From 11–15 December, 2006, a special Christmas edition of the series was shown. This involved the four winning chefs creating a four course Christmas dinner that viewers could prepare at home.

Unlike the original series, only one chef was able to be crowned the winner and there was no special prize at stake (i.e. the meal won't be cooked for The Queen). The final result was decided by the judges and a viewers' vote; 30p from calls made in order to vote was donated to Children in Need.

[edit] Final result

1st – Richard Corrigan (Northern Ireland)

2nd – Marcus Wareing (England), Nick Nairn (Scotland)

4th – Bryn Williams (Wales)

[edit] Series two (2007)

Series two started broadcasting on 2 April 2007. The format was the same as before, with the winning chefs from each region from series one taking on new challengers. The final menu was cooked at the British Embassy in Paris at an Ambassadors Dinner.

[edit] Contestants

  • Week 1 – 2 April to 6 April – Galton Blackiston and Sat Bains (won heat) represent the Midlands and the East of England
  • Week 2 – 9 April to 13 April – Bryn Williams (won heat) and Matt Tebbutt represent Wales
  • Week 3 – 16 April to 20 April – Nick Nairn and Jeremy Lee (won heat) represent Scotland
  • Week 4 – 23 April to 27 April – Richard Corrigan (won heat) and Noel McMeel represent Northern Ireland
  • Week 5 – 30 April to 4 May – Atul Kochhar (won heat) and Stuart Gillies represent the South East of England
  • Week 6 – 7 May to 11 May – Michael Caines and Mark Hix (won heat) represent the South West of England
  • Week 7 – 14 May to 18 May – Marcus Wareing and Mark Broadbent (won heat) represent the North of England

[edit] Final result

Starter – ham, egg and peas (recipe) – Sat Bains

Fish course – whole poached wild salmon and duck egg dressing with wheaten bread and country butter (recipe) – Richard Corrigan

Main course – rabbit and crayfish stargazy pie (recipe) – Mark Hix

Dessert – perry jelly and summer fruits with elderflower ice cream (recipe) – Mark Hix

[edit] Series three (2008)

Series three began broadcasting on 17 March 2008. The chefs competed for the opportunity to cook a four-course dinner held in June 2008, at the restaurant at the top of the iconic Norman Foster-designed "Gherkin" building in London. The host was a the chef Heston Blumenthal and his guests included top chefs from around the world along with gourmets and celebrities who represent a cross section of modern Britain.

The series began with seven special programmes in which Great British Menu judge, Matthew Fort, travels around the UK, selecting the two chefs who will go through to represent their region in the competition.

[edit] Contestants

[edit] Heats

  • Central region: Sat Bains vs Glynn Purnell (Winner)
  • Wales: Angela Hartnett vs Stephen Terry (Winner)
  • North of England: Nigel Haworth (Winner) vs Anthony Flinn
  • Scotland: Tom Kitchin (Winner) vs Matt Gray
  • Northern Ireland: Danny Millar (Winner) vs Noel McMeel
  • South-West: Chris Horridge (Winner) vs Elisha Carter
  • South-East: Jason Atherton (Winner) vs Atul Kochhar

[edit] Final result

Starter – Bacon, lettuce and tomato with Croque Monsieur (recipe) - Jason Atherton

Fish course - Organic salmon and smoked salmon with crab fritters and cockle 'popcorn' (recipe) - Stephen Terry

Main course – Dexter beef fillet, ox cheek, smoked potato puree and marrow bone (recipe) - Jason Atherton

Dessert – Strawberries with tarragon and black pepper honeycomb with burnt English cream surprise (recipe) - Glynn Purnell

[edit] Series Four (2009)

Series four began on 30 March 2009 and revolved around cooking a meal for British soldiers returning from the War in Afghanistan. A chef from a previous series came back in this series to act as a mentor, giving the two chefs from their region guidance and advice. They were in the kitchen and acted as an unofficial 4th judge.

The north region was split into north-east and north-west.

[edit] Heats

  • Central: Glynn Purnell (won heat) vs Daniel Clifford
    Sat Bains as mentor
  • Scotland: Tom Kitchin (won heat) vs Alan Murchison
    Jeremy Lee as mentor
  • North East: Kenny Atkinson (won heat) vs Ian Matfin
    Marcus Wareing as mentor
  • Northern Ireland: Danny Millar (won heat) vs Clare Smyth
    Richard Corrigan as mentor
  • South West: Shaun Rankin (won heat) vs Nathan Outlaw
    Mark Hix as mentor
  • Wales: James Sommerin (won heat) vs Stephen Terry
    Bryn Williams as mentor
  • North West: Nigel Haworth (won heat) vs Aiden Byrne
    Marcus Wareing as mentor
  • South East: Tristan Welch (won heat) vs Mark Sargeant
    Jason Atherton as mentor

[edit] Final Result

Starter - Salad of Aberdeen Angus beef, carrots, horseradish & Shetland Black potatoes (recipe) - Kenny Atkinson

Fish course - Masala spiced Monkfish with red lentils, pickled carrots & coconut (recipe) - Glynn Purnell

Main Course - Lonk lamb Lancashire Hotpot, pickled red cabbage, carrots & leeks (recipe) - Nigel Haworth

Dessert - Treacle tart with Jersey clotted cream & raspberry ripple coulis (recipe) - Shaun Rankin

[edit] The Banquet

The final episode of the series was broadcast on BBC2 on Tuesday 16th June where the Banquet was held for 100 Army personnel, along with series judges Matthew Fort, Prue Leith and Oliver Peyton. Fellow chefs Mark Hix, Marcus Wareing, Richard Corrigan, Bryn Williams and Jeremy Lee, who mentored the chefs in the heats, also attended the event.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Jennie Bond was both the presenter and the narrator for the first 2 series but however was just the narrator for the third and fourth
  2. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2009/02_february/26/menu.shtml BBC Press release
  3. ^ BBC - Food - TV and radio - About the show

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_British_Menu"
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