Great British Menu - General Discussion

[GaT]

Still watching, up to episode 18 & the judge that is with them all the time is getting on my nerves big time. His insistence on asking "is it groundbreaking?" "is it extraordinary?" is just obnoxious & annoying, & is leading to the creation of dishes that have too many elements to be cohesive. 

[Pepper Mostly]

I'm up to the finals. Loving this show! But boy howdy can you tell its 2012 by the food that's in fashion, and the techniques--beets! beets! beets! There must be beets! And all that liquid nitrogen! I'm enjoying it a lot, but I'm getting a little weary of people using liquid nitrogen or making spheres of something in an effort to be "groundbreaking". Then when someone does do something really weird, the judges clutch their pearls and complain that the chef is being gimmicky. But I freely admit its a minor quibble. There are always going to be differences of opinion and differences of interpretation. I actually enjoy the judges' bickering, which always seems good natured. But what does that guy Phil have on them? They were all a-tremble over upsetting him and worried about how shattered he'd be by a bad review. They cheerfully trashed other chefs. And frankly I think Phil's a prize jerk and I laughed at his chagrin.

[Athena]

1 hour ago, Pepper Mostly said:

But what does that guy Phil have on them? They were all a-tremble over upsetting him and worried about how shattered he'd be by a bad review. They cheerfully trashed other chefs. And frankly I think Phil's a prize jerk and I laughed at his chagrin.

Phil Howard use to work for Marco Pierre White so he is a peer of Marcus Wareing and Gordon Ramsay, two other chefs that have a huge reputation in the British and London restaurant scene.  A lot of the chefs who come on this show do have Michelin stars and a lot of buzz, but not a lot of them come from that specific time in London restaurants. He also co-owns at least two Michelin starred restaurants. Phil didn't really need to come on this show to market himself (which I think a lot of the contestants do) or to prove anything. 

I agree with you that he was full of himself on this season, but I also find it funny how others reacted to him. 

[Pepper Mostly]

Thanks, I knew who he was. Marco Pierre White and Gordon Ramsay are pretty douche-y too, I believe. I just wondered at the judges' goggle-eyed, fangirly attitude. I laughed out loud when one of them said "I'm sure Phil is gutted" over some criticism. My feeling is, if you're going to compete in something like this, then be prepared to go all in, and take your lumps if necessary. He seemed to expect kowtowing and forelock-pulling. I was mightily amused when he was knocked down a peg.

[txvoodoo]

From here:

Quote

This series will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the National Health Service, with chefs cooking celebratory and heartfelt dishes in tribute to the heroic staff of the NHS. Once again in charge of picking the perfect four-course menu are judges Andi Oliver, Oliver Peyton OBE and Matthew Fort.

The chefs and guest judges are listed on that page!

[Athena]

The series premiered this week with the North East region.

[GaT]

I'm in America, so the only series of this I've seen is on Netflix & appears to be series 7 on the BBC. When I watched it on Netflix, I was astounded by how many episodes there were, 45, which is a LOT of episodes. In the US, a normal season has 22 episodes, & it seems to me that in the UK it's even less. Were all series of this show that many episodes? I see it's up to series 12 now, that would be 540 episodes, this show must always be on.

[Athena]

3 hours ago, GaT said:

I'm in America, so the only series of this I've seen is on Netflix & appears to be series 7 on the BBC. When I watched it on Netflix, I was astounded by how many episodes there were, 45, which is a LOT of episodes. In the US, a normal season has 22 episodes, & it seems to me that in the UK it's even less. Were all series of this show that many episodes? I see it's up to series 12 now, that would be 540 episodes, this show must always be on.

Yes, each series has around 45 episodes. The show is on five days a week when it airs. Masterchef UK use to be 4 episodes a week as well, but it has been cut down. I think the show is not that expensive for BBC Two. The format has not really changed through the whole series. They seem to own the kitchen and studio for it and the judges are the same every year. I don't think the contestants get a lot money from entering if at all. It's very much for the competition aspect and the marketing of their brand/restaurants.

Masterchef Australia is actually ~60 episodes per season so this show is not large when compared to that.

[Athena]

Central Week: A good week with three very competitive chefs. I was very impressed with Sabrina's style. She seems to be a true fusion chef similar to Jun Tanaka. However, like Jun, she didn't make it to the regional stage. I really wanted to try that curry. It sounded amazing. I'd love to try her food but I've read that she works at Bernardi's which is a higher end Italian restaurant. If she had her own restaurant like Marianne does, I would be making reservations. 

[Athena]

Great British Menu Series 14 premiered last week with London and South East chefs. They are now only airing three nights a week rather than the previous five. Starter and Fish is episode 1, Main and Dessert episode 2, and Final judging episode 3. There will be 29 episodes this series when previously there were about 45. The theme for this year's menu is British pop music. For a full line of up chefs and judges, please see this article.

[GaT]

I hope this shows up on Netflix, they've only had one season that I know of.

[Writing Wrongs]

I've been binge-watching Series 13 on Hulu. I really don't understand "fine dining". Why would you pay such high prices for one small piece of meat, some dots or a smear of something and one mushroom or one carrot or one sliver of an onion? Oh and a tiny sorrel leaf on top. That doesn't seem like enough food to me. I guess it's if you're having several courses? Which I've never done.

Edited December 17, 2019 by Writing Wrongs

[Athena]

The new series started up a couple of episodes. They've changed the format again and now have a host in the kitchen with the chefs. They start off with 4 chefs and two are eliminated before the judges' table. I miss the old format of one dish per day a lot. I was also fine with the chef judge hosting it himself. With the plethora of other shows on at this time, we're not watching this much. It's too bad; I use to really like this show. 

[GaT]

On 4/8/2020 at 7:13 AM, Athena said:

The new series started up a couple of episodes. They've changed the format again and now have a host in the kitchen with the chefs. They start off with 4 chefs and two are eliminated before the judges' table. I miss the old format of one dish per day a lot. I was also fine with the chef judge hosting it himself. With the plethora of other shows on at this time, we're not watching this much. It's too bad; I use to really like this show. 

I think this is only the 2nd season of this show that I've seen, but I have no memory of the old format, so I'm not missing it. I do think this show is on way too much, 2 1/2 hours every week with almost 30 episodes is just too much show.

[Athena]

The show returned this week with a Christmas edition "Great British Christmas Menu" with two episode a week for I think the next 3 weeks. It's 8 chefs competing, then 3 go to the judges round. We watched the first episode and it was so fast paced because of the two courses and eight chefs cooking. I think we'll enjoy it though since it's a little more straightforward having two episodes per week.

[RealityCheck]

The new season of The Great British Menu began last night, Wednesday March 24, 2021.  This year's theme is British innovation.  Rachel Kloo joins Oliver Peyton and Matthew Fort on the judging panel, replacing Andi Oliver.

[txvoodoo]

So what do folks think of Rachel Kloo? I'm underwhelmed.

I love Andi being on the pass.

[WearyTraveler]

On 5/4/2021 at 5:53 AM, txvoodoo said:

So what do folks think of Rachel Kloo? I'm underwhelmed.

I love Andi being on the pass.

I like Andi on the pass too.  Not sure if the regional chef judges enjoyed all the comments she gave after they gave the chefs their scores, though. Corrigan seemed to like it least, almost cutting her off to move on to another score.

Kloo is meh! Not a lot of depth in her comments, unlike Matt and Oliver who explain with more precise words what it is that they like/don't like about a dish.

Starter, Fish and Main have been decided now, and it seems this year they will not be awarding any chef the responsibility to cook an appetiser or a pre-dessert, I wonder if the venue where they will do the banquet has a smaller kitchen or if there's another reason for this.  I thought it was nice that the chefs got an extra opportunity to make it to the banquet, even if it was with something small.

I will say this about the dishes chosen for the banquet so far: that's a lot of eggs!! All three dishes chosen so far have a runny yolk: Alex's is a slow confit whole duck egg, and both,  Roberta and Oli's dishes have a slow confit chicken egg yolk.

I don't know if that works as a cohesive menu.  I do recall the series before the pandemic had the judges discussing what dishes would make a good progression menu-wise and they talked about whether to choose a superb dish even though it didn't fit with other dishes that they had settled on.  I think that while that may not please all the chefs, it is a worthy consideration.  I mean, Iook at the banquet's dishes so far, would someone enjoy eating three eggs in a row? As much as I love a runny egg yolk, the most I could eat in a single sitting is two (eggs Benedict, for example).  Three is one too many.

At least none of the desserts have runny eggs! LOL!

ETA: I'm very pleased that Roberta, the only female in the finals, got one of her dishes through, but sad for Jude who so wanted to honor his dead wife by serving a dish at the banquet.  I don't think his dessert will get him there, considering the comments he got and the competition he's facing.

Edited May 20, 2021 by WearyTraveler

[txvoodoo]

7 hours ago, WearyTraveler said:

I do recall the series before the pandemic had the judges discussing what dishes would make a good progression menu-wise and they talked about whether to choose a superb dish even though it didn't fit with other dishes that they had settled on. 

They've changed formats/progression a lot over the years, but yeah, several times they would choose a top 3 for each course, then shuffle it around on the last day to get the most cohesive menu.

I'm going to feel so sorry if Jude doesn't get on the menu. I can't judge the taste of tings, but oh, he's tried SO hard. And he's consistently been gracious. 

Agree on Roberta!

And I agree on the gg, too. I adore a runny yolk, but my gallbladder would be screaming after a dinner like this! 😄

[GaT]

I haven't been watching this (I think I've only seen 2 seasons) because I find it to be too many episodes. It feels overwhelming to me, & becomes a chore to watch. So I don't.

[Writing Wrongs]

I've been watching old seasons on Amazon. I'm currently watching the Wimbledon one. 

I really don't care for the 3 judges they have. It seems like they are just there to make snarky comments and try to be funny.  That said, I never have gotten how you tell a story with a plate of food.

[RealityCheck]

The new season of THE GREAT BRITISH MENU premiered last night Tuesday February 1, 2022.

Chefs Tom Kerridge and Nisha Katona and food podcast host Ed Gamble replaces Matthew Forte, Oliver Peyton and Rachel Khoo as the judges.  Andi Oliver returns as host.

This year the chefs will be tasked with creating dishes that reflect "100 Years of Great British Broadcasting".

[WearyTraveler]

2 hours ago, RealityCheck said:

The new season of THE GREAT BRITISH MENU premiered last night Tuesday February 1, 2022.

Chefs Tom Kerridge and Nisha Katona and food podcast host Ed Gamble replaces Matthew Forte, Oliver Peyton and Rachel Khoo as the judges.  Andi Oliver returns as host.

This year the chefs will be tasked with creating dishes that reflect "100 Years of Great British Broadcasting".

Thanks for the update! I didn't know it premiered already. 

[Leeds]

On 5/20/2021 at 1:44 PM, GaT said:

I haven't been watching this (I think I've only seen 2 seasons) because I find it to be too many episodes. It feels overwhelming to me, & becomes a chore to watch. So I don't.

I also originally found it overwhelming, then I realized I could, you know, pick and choose and there is no necessity or obligation to watch every episode.

[RealityCheck]

Series 19 of the GREAT BRITISH MENU premieres Tuesday Janurary 23, 2024 at 8PM on BBC 2.

Quote

The theme for 2024 will be the Olympics and Paralympic Games.  Great British Menu 2024 will culminate with an Olympic-theme banquet in Paris, which is hosting the games this summer.  The chefs will be competing to cook at a six-course banquet.  As introduced in 2023, the starter on Great British Menu will be a vegan course.

Andi Oliver will be returning as presenter and the judges are Ed Gamble, Nisha Katona and Tom Kerridge.

 

Edited January 23 by RealityCheck