Great British Menu - General Discussion

[Meredith Quill]

A place to discuss particular episodes, arcs and moments from the show's run.

[Athena]

Banquet in honour of the Women's Institute.

[M. Darcy]

That was cool when of the judges for the Scotland final was one of the original calendar girls.

[shandy]

Why is Oliver so grumpy? It's hilarious. 

[shandy]

Scotland week - I loved Jak in her pink chef's whites and she seemed a great person. Didn't understand Jimmy's work. If I was served congee at a banquet I'd be kind of puzzled.  

[Athena]

Scotland week - I loved Jak in her pink chef's whites and she seemed a great person. Didn't understand Jimmy's work. If I was served congee at a banquet I'd be kind of puzzled.  

 

I'm really glad that Jak won. I think she has improved since last year where she just managed to just get to the finals. I really adored Jimmy as a personality, but he... missed the brief. I'll be saying that a lot more in the comings weeks I feel. Some of his dishes looked really good and is my type of food, but not for the WI banquet. I wasn't a big fan of Graham. He was the smuggest of the three, but like most of the chefs on this show, it wasn't as bad as some other chef shows in NA.

 

I'm getting through SW, but I think it's easiest to watch this show in marathons at the end of the week usually so I won't post the winners of each week until after it's over with the exception of Finals Week.

[Quilt Fairy]

Can someone tell  me in a nutshell what this show is about? It's obviously lasted for a while in the UK, but hasn't made it across the pond yet (which is where I am!).

[RealityCheck]

From Wikipedia:

 

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.

• Series 01 (2006) : Birthday meal for the Queen for 300 people held June 16, 2006
• Series 02 (2007) : Ambassador's dinner at the British Embassy in Paris
• Series 03 (2008) : Dinner for top chefs from around the world held at the iconic Norman Foster-designed "Gherkin" building in London
• Series 04 (2009) : A meal for British service personnel returning from the war in Afghanistan
• Series 05 (2010) : Banquet for British food producers and the Prince of Wales was the guest of honor
• Series 06 (2011) : Food that encourages people to come together to enjoy food
• Series 07 (2012) : Celebration for the Olympics coming to London
• Series 08 (2013) : Banquet for people associated with the Comic Relief charity held at the Royal Albert Hall
• Series 09 (2014) : The D-Day banquet for people who fought on D-Day held at St Paul's Cathedral
• Series 10 (2015) : Banquet celebrating the 100-year anniversay of the Women's Institute to be held at Draper's Hall

[shandy]

Athena can probably give better context as I'm a recent convert.

 

It's a weekday show where 3 chefs from a region compete to present appetizer, fish, entree and dessert to a panel of 3 expert judges on Friday. Each preceding day looks at one course, we see the details, have historical segments and spotlight on local ingredients. Last week was Scotland week, this time it's the Southwest Peninsula of England. Ireland, Wales and other parts of England still to come. 

 

The expert judges are a grump Irish restaurant owner, the first woman to get a michelin star in England (my fave), and a food critic. They are pretty good together as one likes concept, one likes flavor and one champions old fashioned recipes.

 

It has a Great British Baking Show/GBBO vibe. 

Edited August 14, 2015 by shandy

[Athena]

A place to discuss particular episodes, arcs and moments from the show's run. Please remember this isn't a complete catch-all topic -- check out the forum for character topics and other places for show-related talk.

[Athena]

Adding to the above. Each series/season of this show is about 45 episodes. This is great if you like to marathon cooking shows or keep in the background for some mindless entertainment at the end of the day. There are eight regions/weeks of heats. The finalist from each week goes to Finals Week in Week 9. Eight professionals chefs compete in the last four episodes to determine whose dishes goes on the final menu. The finale episode is the banquet.

 

Each week before heading the Judge's Chamber on Friday, the chefs are judged by a previous champion chef who previously made it to the banquet. The show had many Michelin starred chefs early on and the chefs featured on this show end up getting more exposure as TV personalities later. As a long time viewer, it's always fun to see the former contestants be a judge because you know how it took them to get to the other side. Also, certain chef judges have formidable reputations in the UK restaurant scene so it's interesting watching the contestants trying to impress them.

 

There is very little emphasis on personal drama or personality issues. Like GBBO and other UK food competition shows, the drama is in getting the food on the table correctly, plating up, and making sure it tastes delicious. The other component is making sure the dish fits the theme of the banquet of that series. The inherent drama is watching professional chefs compete against each other in a tight spaced kitchen that they aren't use to running. They get really competitive with each other, but it's always friendly. At the end of every week, you can tell they actually do like each other. Until that point, the editors create tension with music, bleeping their swear words, and many close ups of faces.

 

I actually find the show both relaxing and a little tense at the same time. There's a lot of food porn, but of the classic British variety. Most of the techniques aren't feasible in the home kitchen, but it's still interesting to see professionals at work. I enjoy rooting for certain chefs because they put their reputation and skills on display. It's good for ideas for mixing ingredients since you see more than 96 unique plates of food by the end of each series.

[iggysaurus]

I'm going to seek this show out. I love UK cooking shows.
 

 

There is very little emphasis on personal drama or personality issues. Like GBBO and other UK food competition shows, the drama is in getting the food on the table correctly, plating up, and making sure it tastes delicious.

 

I find it so interesting how much UK shows differ from US ones. What does it say about our respective cultures? The constant emphasis on personal stories in American shows is a pet peeve of mine, and I'm American. I sometimes feel I should've been born in Britain.

[shandy]

Oh rats! I loved Jude and his Asian-Cornish fusion. I wanted Oliver, Pru and Matthew to taste his food. He was sweet and didn't get involved with the locker room snark.  Josh had the swagger of a high school jock with those could I care less facial expressions and to be honest I can't get excited over milk pudding. But I need to call up my grandmother and tell her that a chef won a competition with junket, which will make her smile, as she used to make it with thickening tablets and vanilla. The brioche burger and Mackerel pattie seemed odd for an appetizer, it's high end bar food.

 

Dom was my #2 choice - I thought the picnic was wonderful, and the salmon was a better fish dish than a crustless chicken pie with bland codfish. I agreed that the cake platter was underwhelming, they didn't look special, and in fact, would barely pass at a pta fundraiser.  But his menu seemed less all over the place. And Emily ... what can I say? Why so serious. Really struggled with her. I wonder if she felt under pressure - the chefs certainly didn't listen much to her in terms of alterations and only Jude called her 'chef'.  

 

Best things for me were the beach scenes and the clips out of the studio. Scotland week had me feeling warm and fuzzy. This week ... hmmm

Edited August 16, 2015 by shandy

[shandy]

The strange thing is I think US reality-driven shows resemble the kind of Japanese dross I used to complain about when I lived there - drama over nothing, endless repeats of the same segments, even words like 'meltdown' on screen to remind us of what is happening. They are all imported wholesale to Europe of course, so nowhere is safe.

[Athena]

I find it so interesting how much UK shows differ from US ones. What does it say about our respective cultures? The constant emphasis on personal stories in American shows is a pet peeve of mine, and I'm American. I sometimes feel I should've been born in Britain.

 

The UK has its fair share of bad reality shows. They were the ones who brought us Big Brother. They also have a lot of candid reality too, but I do agree US TV takes it to another level. For their food shows, I usually never see any manufactured drama in the way the US does. Australia, NZ, some Canadian, and other European shows place less emphasis on personal drama too.

[Athena]

The Brits really like their pudding and if done well, it can go very far in this competition.

 

I liked Jude too. I hope he comes back next year, but I knew his menu had much farther to go. I love Asian fusion, but sadly, I don't think this is the right venue for it.

 

With regards to Emily, she won last year against Dom and Josh which is why they acted more familiar with her. She use to be their equal. As for being overly serious, I think all the chef judges are told to be this way for editing and tension purposes. The only one who is scary enough to pull it off is Marcus Wareing and sometimes Phil Howard.

 

I thought the two guys were more or less evenly matched all week so not surprised they tied in the final judging.

[Christina]

I just watched episode 11, the first one for Wales. I agreed with Stephen turning down the spices in his dish for the Women's Institute. All the chefs seemed to agree that his dishes needed more, but age and unfamiliarity with a spice can cause a lot of gastro distress, and it's miserable. He made the right call, I think. If he makes it to judging, I guess we will get their opinions.

 

The guy who got an 8 (it's late and I've forgotten his name in the two minutes since I turned the episode off : ) made the only dish I think I would have liked to try.

[M. Darcy]

I didn't dislike the other two but I really liked Jude.  I hope he's back next time (which seems possible given the amount of returnees this time).

[M. Darcy]

 

•Series 01 (2006) : Birthday meal for the Queen for 300 people held June 16, 2006

That's the one I watched!  Either BBCA or PBS showed it really early on either Sat or Sun mornings a few years ago and I just loved it.  As I have said before about the Great British Bake Off, it was just really enjoyable to watch a show where people are just nice and professional. 

[Athena]

I didn't dislike the other two but I really liked Jude.  I hope he's back next time (which seems possible given the amount of returnees this time).

 

There is always a lot of returnees. I think each chef can return to the show up to three times if they don't make it to the banquet. It depends on how willing to they are to commit to the show every year because all of them have day jobs.

 

I know Tom Kerridge lost a lot of weight, but I'm still not use to seeing him so slim. He's as smiley and as jokey as ever. He was always the kind of chef who came in and you knew he'd get to the banquet eventually.

[shandy]

This obsession with Pork is getting old. Indian tapas would be the kind of thing  I would seek out.  A scotch egg and onion pickle, maybe on a Potterhead get together... Some papadum crackers with those chickpeas would have given you your textures Tom.

 

I'll save commenting on the Wales menus till I can properly marathon on the weekend but judge Tom shows how you can be friendly, funny and kind but also very clear eyed when it comes to the judging (take note Emily the ice queen from last week). The young chef and his mother were great - 'Ow's it going alright?' 'Alright, I'm in 'ere'. It reminded me of that sweet show set in Wales, Gavin and Stacey. I also loved that she got emotional one minute and the next saying it needed salt. She was clearly right as that was commented on later.

 

I friggin love big Tom tho - looking at old clips he was one major unit, so glad for his health he's dropped so much. He clearly has a Ramsay like reputation but is also such a kind man – the young chef looked so starstruck, and then teary when he got a good score. His restaurant looked like it was nothing fancy and in a backstreet area, so he automatically becomes my fave. Not least for almost taking an eye out on the oven door - that would be my kind of error. 

[Athena]

Wales Fish - One of my favourite things about Tom Kerridge hosting other than just himself, his shell fish allergy means there is always a second chef in Fish week. Ahh, I enjoyed watching Adam and Phil squirm when they realized Tom Aitkens was the second judge and how freaked out they looked. I like how Stephen was nonplussed about it too.

 

I would eat all three dishes, but I have to agree with the Toms that Phil's looked like a restaurant dish, the liquid nitrogen mackerel was a bit pointless, and Adam (who seems to be a great talent) is stressing out too much and may not have enough to replicate his dishes quickly. He keeps getting flustered in the kitchen even though he cleaarly has good ideas.

[shandy]

Oh ... my ... days 

 

Stephen's dessert was an amazing concept  ... in the hands of a more skilled chef perhaps it could have been the stand out of this season. I liked the notion of combining barfi (which I find too sweet) with a fruit sauce but it seems the flavors just weren't good enough.

 

The two rhubarb dishes just seemed forgettable. 

 

 It will be interesting to see the chamber results tomorrow as I felt Tom was disappointed. Wales hasn't been a great week. 

[Latverian Diplomat]

Oh rats! I loved Jude and his Asian-Cornish fusion. I wanted Oliver, Pru and Matthew to taste his food. He was sweet and didn't get involved with the locker room snark.  Josh had the swagger of a high school jock with those could I care less facial expressions

New to the show this year, but during most of the week, I thought Southwest was more cutting in the exchanges between chefs than the other regions have been.. Josh seemed ready to claim he'd been sabotaged when he unplugged his own water bath by mistake, and that one pasta machine part Jude needed went missing. So, not fun to watch that kind of stuff. But then in the judging round, Josh and Dom seemed to get along fine and Josh even helped out Dom once. There's no question that Josh's interesting dessert opposite Dom's franticly mediocre one was what pushed Josh through. 

[shandy]

*resists the urge to comment on f******* The boy did good! I was convinced Adam was toast.  I think Phil was genuinely shocked he lost. Surprised that the judges differed from Tom and still put A through when two of his courses were near disasters. That retired home ec teacher was a tough sell. I doubt her students got much past her. On the phone to his mom after the reveal, I just wanted to bottle his accent and sell it. 

 

I do love Pru so much. One look at that fussy lamb-mint consommé as a sipping herb tea, and she was like to hell with that, I'm using it for gravy. 

[M. Darcy]

 

*resists the urge to comment on f*******

I felt like I was 5 years old - I kept giggling every time they said the naughty word.  And they kept saying it!

[Athena]

I think Phil was genuinely shocked he lost. Surprised that the judges differed from Tom and still put A through when two of his courses were near disasters.

 

Poor Phil. He actually did better on the day than earlier in the week and he still lost. I agree that Adam really faltered in two courses, but he had the better main course and appetizer. Something that always happens on this show is that every season, there will be a dish a chef judge loves, but the final judges find tepid or even dislike. It always amuses me when that happens because it shows how different the judging can be.

 

Adam is adorable and he did have a some good ideas, but I find watching him work is stressful and definitely not as organised as the other chefs. I think part of it is that he is very young and not as well trained as some of the others. He does make up for it in terms of tenacity and having an excellent palate.

[shandy]

No GBM this week! My early morning fix denied. 

 

Twitter tells me this is due to Athletics. 

 

Socialized Television - it's like a parallel universe. 

[M. Darcy]

When it returns on Monday, the next region is Northern Ireland.

[shandy]

Thank g-d it's back, I really missed it.

 

The Northern ireland accent is a trip - it's very close to some American Southern accents imho. 

 

Very strong meat flavors seem to be 'in' this iteration. I'm not loving this consommé obsession, but I suspect that may be because I've probably never had one that has been made to exacting standards, and if I did go to a michelin starred establishment, I would probably be ordering something else from the menu. 

 

I wasn't surprised at the result. I've noticed the chefs will mark higher if an element is perfect and everything else falls to crapola - the three who rule don't do that.

 

The young guy's plate did look a little ordinary, although he was cocky, but Danni's seemed special. I liked that she was keeping to the WI brief, but also completely rooted in her locality. I could totally see that as part of a high end Paddy's day celebration.  Brown or Molasses bread is pretty well known in the Irish diaspora and Boston, but like everything, some is great and some is appalling. This looked another level. 

[M. Darcy]

Darn it, the two guys look too similar - both with short hair and similar looking glasses.  Heh, which is what the judge looks like also.

[shandy]

I've had it with this show! I'm tired of seeing snarkmeister jock types get through to the final. 

The irony of the boys club crushing female entrants when the banquet is for the Womens Institute has all the hilarity of a Utah Mormon Acapella Group  in blackface. 

Pru and the occasional guest judge  have to remind the panel what they are looking for and even then rarely. Oliver and Matthew have their own obsessions which seem to have very little to do with selecting dinner courses for 100 women representing a very worthy institution. I'll watch to the end, but feel it really has nose-dived. 

[Latverian Diplomat]

I'm not much a banquet goer, but I will say that in terms of enjoyable food that tastes great, it seemed like Danni was consistently the best in the first three courses, and I think 2nd in the dessert round. I admit her approach of clean focused, flavorful dishes that were well executed was what I would like to have. She did not go in for flashy props, but honestly, Chris and Ben had a few props, but they weren't really impressive or particularly original, IMHO.

 

Chris and Ben put a lot of different things on their plates in the first three rounds, but the quality of execution was uneven, Ben was late to the pass, and they both had missing elements that threw off the balance of one of their dishes. But only Danni, it seemed to me, was really punished for an omission (in her dessert).

 

I do think Ben's dessert was probably the best, since the cucumber cream was an interesting idea. But the honeycomb didn't seem to work with it. Chris' sugar apples look amazing, but at the end of the day it's just sugar. I also wonder how far in advance those can be made and whether that's really practical for a large banquet. It seemed like you have to make lots of extras because they are so fragile.

 

So, I would have liked to see Danni go to the final, but I don't know how well she would done. Over all. I think this was the weakest round so far, and the judging was the most frustrating as well.

[Athena]

North East Week. All newbies in the kitchen, but with the best/hardest to please of all the chef judges: MARCUS! Gosh, I adore Marcus Wareing. He's actually lightened up on this show over the years. I love how bug-eyed Mini looked when they met him.

 

Michael's dish was interesting? He's left field alright.

[summer57]

Yes, Marcus has been much nicer lately.  Back in 2012, he insulted a chef (Johnnie Mountain) to the point when he walked out of the kitchen. 

I have to agree with Marcus that O'Hare focused on style rather than the food in his starter, and it seemed to be more about him than about the WI.  it will be interesting to see what he does with the fish course.

 

 

[Badger]

I kept seeing Nigel Tufnel every time Michael was shown.  Seriously, how does he work in a kitchen with that hair?

[M. Darcy]

 

I kept seeing Nigel Tufnel every time Michael was shown

I keep seeing Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer from SNL. 

 

I've had it with this show! I'm tired of seeing snarkmeister jock types get through to the final.

Its just strange.  You'd think you want to woman to win considering who the banquet is for and they have so few women contestants.  There isn't one woman chef from the Northeast? 

 

But only Danni, it seemed to me, was really punished for an omission (in her dessert).

That was bizarre - the guys really liked it and the judge acted like it was total crap.  Even if she was punished for an omission - she wasn't the only one who left out stuff. 

[Athena]

That was bizarre - the guys really liked it and the judge acted like it was total crap.  Even if she was punished for an omission - she wasn't the only one who left out stuff. 

 

I think what really finished it for Dani was her break down of confidence at the end. She even gave herself a 4. I don't think any judge has given themselves such a low mark before. Furthermore, I think Phil asking her about the missing element and how she didn't want the others to be late hinted that he would have been more lenient if she had. The fact she sorta gave up at the end didn't endear him to her at all; Phil's a really rigid judge. If she had been late, it would have been bad, but at least her dish would have been more complete and she might have not have looked as wretched. I really felt for her, but I knew she was done when she gave herself a 4. I really hope she comes back in the future.

[shandy]

I kept seeing Nigel Tufnel every time Michael was shown.  Seriously, how does he work in a kitchen with that hair?

 

Gasp, Michael is amazing. I was watching a Christopher Guest movie - even the shots of his Zug Island/Gary hometown with that foundry fuming in the background. 

I have no clue what he was trying to do, but a gin sour from a drinking tube, yes please. 

[Pallida]

After seeing Michael in some earlier montage, I'm just excited to finally see that he's as quirky of a chef as his appearance suggests!

[Athena]

North East Fish had a lot of laughter and smiles between the chefs. I really like this group. Michael's dish was interesting. He really is very out of the box. I'm really glad he did well. Poor Mini though, but comparing it to the others, not surprised his score low.

[shandy]

Thank you Marcus Wareing for showing me that there is nothing wrong with the format. It just needs a good week to get back into me loving GBM again. All the three chefs were  teary eyed sensitive souls, but what a relief to have no snark, genuine appreciation for each others' efforts, and a sense of shared hardship facing the utter terror of Marcus. Who goddammit is ageing well. Aren't many men close to 50 who can melt 17 year olds on twitter. 

 

Michael is a true original. He doesn't make comfort food, but you'd certainly remember it. If he ever leaves England North East, Manhattan would appreciate him. I think, given the reaction on social media this is a break out moment for him. 

[Pallida]

I don't normally react positively to the visual appearance of food.  (At first I was going to say I don't react but realized some food looks gross to me, and I react negatively.)  With that in mind, I found Michael's fish to stir up a lot of emotions.  He kept emphasizing the history of industry in his home area (and if I remember correctly, the loss of industry?).  The dark and dreary appearance of his dish with the little shimmer of golden beauty just really touched me.  It reminded me of some of the talk about Detroit, Michigan, where many focus solely on its post-industry economic depression and how awful it is, completely ignoring the resiliency of many of its inhabitants who are creatively moving toward the future.

 

I can't decide if I'm becoming sappy or if he's brilliant!  Maybe both.

 

His entree being a single's ad for his mom was rather amusing.  Once again with me being sappy, I was quite saddened that the family floral business will end with his mother's retirement, but how wonderful that she supported him following his passion.

 

I've missed a few episodes so perhaps this doesn't always happen, but I've enjoyed how non-snarky the other chefs are when they taste each other's dishes.  They may have critiques, but it always seems to be something "factual" rather than a petty preference. 

[Athena]

I don't normally react positively to the visual appearance of food.  (At first I was going to say I don't react but realized some food looks gross to me, and I react negatively.)  With that in mind, I found Michael's fish to stir up a lot of emotions.  He kept emphasizing the history of industry in his home area (and if I remember correctly, the loss of industry?).  The dark and dreary appearance of his dish with the little shimmer of golden beauty just really touched me.  It reminded me of some of the talk about Detroit, Michigan, where many focus solely on its post-industry economic depression and how awful it is, completely ignoring the resiliency of many of its inhabitants who are creatively moving toward the future.

 

Yes, Michael's fish dish was representing the seaside, but also the decline of the industrial sector in the last century.

 

Like you, I don't react emotionally to dishes as well. I watch a lot of these kind of shows and while I enjoy the presentation, I often think the splashes can be gimmicky. However, I think Michael is one of those rare professional chefs who is incredibly expressive and emotional with his dishes. His work reminds me of Massimo Bottura, a three Michelin star Italian chef who has appeared in Masterchef UK: The Pros and Masterchef: Aus. These are the kind of chefs who are artistic and expressive, but have food that is memorable and delicious.

 

I hope the Judges chamber likes Michael's dishes. It is so different than anything and it may not to the brief or the banquet, but he is a very dynamic chef.

 

I liked all the chefs more than usual this week and hope they all return in some form.

[shandy]

Just managed to catch up with the show tonight. Fanfare! Hooray for Michael. I was so glad the judges appreciated Michael's originality. The reaction of the servers was instructive - they were astonished. I was also delighted that the judges were kind about Tim's dessert, which looked beautiful. 

[M. Darcy]

Finally all caught up!  Just in time for the next group starting tonight - the north west of England with Eve Townson, Matt Worswick and returning contender Mark Ellis. Sigh.  Just one woman.  Oh well.

 

Aw, poor Michael's mum - the family shop will be closing.  I would love to see her reaction about the name of that dish.  Well, maybe she will start dating because of the show, remarry and the family business will be saved!

 

I still wonder about that giant egg - I just don't see it being used in a banquet hall if he wins the entire thing.

[shandy]

Just when I thought this show could no longer surprise me - NW week is a crash and burn type of affair. Eve, who is the kind of woman Pedro Almodovar would write a movie around, and Mark both live life on the edge. It's good to know English eccentricity is still alive and well in the 21st century. I'm so glad Matt is kind and helpful, as he could so easily gloat at their misfortune. 

 

I wonder, from watching cooking shows from all over the world, if younger chefs' ambition is larger than their grasp of techniques. They aspire to be Keller, Adria and Blumenthal, and so the french inspired apprentice system, where you spent 10 years learning how to clarify stock and not undercook kidneys, has gone out of favor.

[Christina]

I'm behind on this show, but just finished last week, and really enjoyed watching Micheal O'Hare work. I thought his fish course, Emancipation, looked unappetizing and was surprised that everyone found it so tasty. It looked like art, just not edible art because of all the black. I also loved the bumble bee desert of Tim. I'm guessing that Michael's fish course will make the banquet.

 

This week, it looks like it will be another male moving forward, because Eve isn't doing too great. I've only seen through Fish, but her opinions on her cooking are much greater than everyone else's opinion of her cooking. I thought her fish course looked good though.

[Athena]

Unsurprised who won North West. It was a rather lackluster week I find. Matt was by far the most consistent. Eve was all over the place. Mark burned right of the gate even though he has done this before. I felt sorry for him, but he didn't cook well.

 

Onwards to London South East, the last week of heats.

[shandy]

I thought it a pity Eve couldn't execute that dessert but Matt, who had been kind to the others all week, got the reward, which I was pleased about. I was puzzled by his apple crisp desert, especially with that deconstructed streusel crumb - my thought was granola - and I was gratified when one of the judges said it too. The last thing I wanted him to do was take out the spices and leave in the booze. 

 

Was interested that Matthew felt that the only topping should be a custard/crème anglaise.