Original subtitles

This year on Great British Menu...

Hot stuff coming through!

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

are cooking their hearts out...

Ooh la la!

...for a chance to cook

at the prestigious Great British Menu Banquet...

Rock and roll! ..which this year celebrates Britain's triumphs

in animation and illustration.

That's amazing!

Of course, the chefs' dishes must taste delicious...

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

...but represent the theme, too.

I've got Gruffalo hands! THEY LAUGH

A roster of revered previous Great British Menu winners...

Snake! That'll be a snake!

...have returned as veteran judges to score the regional rounds.

I'm scoring you a ten.

I would give you an 11 if I could.

They've got their eyes peeled and taste buds primed

for supreme culinary skill and unparalleled talent.

Go hard or go home. Focused.

The pressure is on as, at the end of each day,

the least successful chef will leave the competition.

It's very exciting!

It's the halfway point in the Northwest Heat.

Be great if any of us got to the banquet with our main course.

It would be amazing, yeah.

Yesterday was a mixed bag.

Sam and Laszlo failed to adequately reflect the brief in their starter

and fish courses, and were marked accordingly.

Five. Four.

Caroline and Danielle's dishes nailed the visuals,

but only Danielle triumphed with flavour, too.

Good, isn't she? She's one to watch.

In the end, veteran Spencer Metzger scored Sam Grainger in last place.

It's been so lovely having you in the kitchen.

Your energy is completely infectious.

I didn't execute perfectly as I should have.

The final three return to fight another day.

Has to be on point.

Laszlo Nagy, who believes he's got what it takes...

Flavours, flavours, flavours.

I'm going to make sure everything is perfect.

...and Mancunian Danielle Heron...

I don't want to jinx it.

...who likes to tread the fine line between risk and reward.

I really need to execute everything as well as I can do.

Plus, returner Caroline Martins...

Here I am again!

...who, despite scoring just four for her starter,

is determined to make it to the judges for the first time.

Can't wait. I'm buzzing and I just want to crack on.

The three remaining chefs from the North West

must now compete over mains and desserts.

Danielle is in the lead on 16 points,

Laszlo has 12 points and Caroline has 10 points.

The competition is heating up, but only the best two will get

to cook for the judges.

How are we all? Are we all happy to be cooking our whole menu?

Yeah, I'm looking forward. ls a new clay, a new light.

Yeah. I can't wait to cook it.

The veteran chef they have to impress with their animation-

and illustration-themed mains and desserts is Michelin-starred

Lisa Goodwin Allen.

She will decide which two chefs get to cook for the judges.

The main course at the banquet

is that one course that everybody wants to get.

To get even close to it, you need to come out with something

that's absolutely delicious and spectacular.

Let's get cooking. Let's do it.

Good luck, everyone. Good luck, guys. Good luck, guys.

Danielle is hoping to maintain her position as leader

with a main course inspired by one of Britain's best-loved characters.

The title of my dish is Paddington's First Chinese New Year.

It's one of the new episodes of Paddington Bear,

where Ms Potts is missing home

so to help cheer her up, he puts on a Chinese New Year party.

Thank you, Ms Potts.

Oh!

Excuse paws!

Good old Paddington. Yeah, he cheers up everybody. Yeah!

You've got chicken. What are you doing with it?

I'm doing the traditional Chinese boiled chicken,

which is a bit risky.

It's traditionally served cold with a hot spring onion and ginger sauce.

You're going to be serving the chicken cold?

Yeah. OK.

I'm taking the legs, making a spring roll out of them

to represent gold bars,

which represents wealth at Chinese New Year.

I'm making my own noodles - they represent longevity.

So, a long life.

Dipping sauces, fermented plums, all sorts of stuff.

You've got a lot going on. Yeah. Really, really interesting.

I can't wait to see it. Hope it turns out well. Me, too.

Thank you very much. Best of luck. Thank you.

Next, Laszlo is celebrating his own rural childhood by taking

inspiration for his main from an edition of the children's comic

jack And Jill Of Buttercup Farm.

So, the title of my dish is jack And Jill's Dinner,

which is by Hugh McNeill, who was born in Manchester.

I looked at the pictures and the whole comic book,

and it was made so well.

The colours are beautiful.

So, are you a farm boy? Yes. Ah!

I grew up in a village all round animals and vegetables, so, yeah.

So, it makes sense. It makes absolute sense. Yes.

Looks like Laszlo on a plate! Yeah!

Tell us about your dish. So, herb crusted lamb loin.

How are you cooking the lamb loin?

I'm going to brine the lamb loin and I'm going to water bath it

and then finish it in the pan.

Loads of butter, garlic, rosemary, just that extra flavour.

Ancl the lamb shoulder, how are you cooking that?

I'm going to pressure cook, braise it, basically.

It's going to be like a pulled lamb hotpot.

For me, here, you've got a very humbling lamb dinner

and you elevate it for a banquet-worthy spectacular.

With those big flavours. Big flavours.

So the impact will be on the palate.

We can't wait to see it.

After yesterday's shaky start,

Caroline hopes to catch her rivals by taking a trip into fantasy land.

The title is A Feast In Wonderland.

The inspiration is Alice In Wonderland.

Oh, I love Alice In Wonderland. What a great story that is.

I'm actually using the original illustrations on my prop.

I will dress the table as I imagine a feast in Wonderland would be.

Oh, wonderful. Exciting.

So, tell us about some of these ingredients you've got here.

So, I'm going to get a poussin and stuff it with chicken mousse.

So, how are you cooking it once you've stuffed it?

I'm going to roast it in the oven.

Also, we are going to have a white corn polenta

made with smoked Lancashire cheese.

On the side, a salad made from baby vegetables

locally grown in Manchester.

Is there anything you're worried about with this dish?

Oh, everything. Everything!

Time management is what I'm concerned about.

Watch your time management cos yesterday you were a bit late.

Make sure you've got everything in place -

you'll be all right. Yeah.

Remember, main course is the centrepiece of a banquet.

Spectacular, tasty food.

Yeah. And I look forward to trying them all.

Thank you. See you later.

Danielle is getting to work on her noodles,

mixing flour with egg yolks and canned suey,

an alkaline powder that will give her noodles elasticity

for her Paddington Bear's Chinese New Year Banquet.

She's also starting her chicken by boiling it whole with ginger,

spring onion and garlic.

This is my biggest dish and the one I've been most worried about,

so I really want to push myself.

As part of her research mission for her Chinese New Year feast,

Danielle went to Chinatown in Manchester to meet David.

Hi, David. Oh, hi, Danielle.

His family have run a Chinese gift shop for 30 years.

So, these are the traditional plates and mugs and bowls that we do.

These are the red lucky envelopes

that you give during Chinese New Year.

You would traditionally put money and some sweets inside.

So, how important is Chinese New Year in Chinese culture?

New Year is the biggest celebration in the Chinese calendar,

and it's a time for families to get together.

Friends gather, have a big meal.

A feast. Yes.

Back in the kitchen, she passes her dough through a pasta machine,

before making it into noodles...

...and checks on her poached chicken.

So, my chicken's just finished boiling, chilled it down.

Make sure the juices run clear first in the leg, and then I've now placed

it in the blast chiller.

Danielle's dish sounded delicious

and really trying to pull on the roots of Chinese food.

She's cooking the chicken,

she's serving it room temperature or cold,

which does concern me a little bit.

The thing for me is time,

because Danielle has got so much stuff to finish last minute. Right.

The noodles, the spring rolls,

she has to manage her time perfectly.

I trust her implicitly, I have to say. Yeah.

Cool as a cucumber.

Cool as a cucumber. Silent assassin underneath.

Laszlo is getting ready to braise his shoulder of lamb.

He sears the meat before adding celery, carrots and onions,

then flavours with thyme, rosemary and red wine before transferring

to the pressure cooker.

The braised lamb is for his version of a mini shepherd's pie

topped with a foam or espuma.

So, I started my potato and lovage espuma.

Got some leek, white wine, potato,

plus a nice smooth puree.

Ancl then I'm going to add my lovage on the end to it.

How's it going, Laszlo? Chef, how are you doing? Good.

What have you got here? So this is going to be the lovage espuma.

It's going to go on top of the lamb pot. Oh, OK.

So instead of blitzing fresh lovage into it,

you made a liquid? Exactly.

Have you got some of your lovage espuma to try?

Yes, it's ready to try, Chef.

Are you worried about it at all?

No. No.

I tried Laszlo's lovage espuma.

It is quite powerful,

so he's going to have to balance it really well on the dish.

For her Alice In Wonderland themed main, Caroline is working

on one of her sides - a white corn polenta

enriched with smoked Lancashire cheese.

I'm worried about time management,

and, obviously, the seasoning situation

because I like salt, apparently!

SHE LAUGHS

She pipes polenta coloured with charcoal into playing card moulds

and adds the cheesy polenta mix before leaving to set.

For her poussin stuffing,

she blends chicken breast, egg whites, double cream and truffle,

before moving on to her chicken gravy.

So, here I've got my chicken bones from my poussin

and also some extra chicken wings.

I'm going to caramelise those

in order to make a very rich chicken gravy.

She adds oysters, soy and Worcester sauces before leaving the gravy

to do its thing in the pressure cooker.

Quite a complex dish.

What troubles me slightly is the fact that she's finishing

the sauce with oyster sauce, soy sauce ancl Worcestershire sauce,

and then she's doing this lovely kind of polenta on the side

and she's putting cheese in it.

Cheese and truffle - classic combination.

Cheese truffle, oyster sauce - not a classic combination.

Slightly odd. Yeah.

It's kind of a little bit confusing.

Danielle is deboning her chicken.

I'd rather run, and if I go home, I go home,

but I'd rather go for it and give it my all.

She sets aside the breast, which will be served cold.

Next, she shreds leg meat to make a spring roll filling,

combining with cabbage, enoki and shimeji mushrooms,

Chinese wine, soy and stock.

Spring rolls symbolise prosperity in China, so they are a key element

in her recreation of Paddington Bear's New Year celebrations.

So, Paddington Bear this year.

Big anniversary.

Yeah. Yes.

National treasure is Paddington.

Totally. He's such a legend.

Everybody knows him.

Everybody loves him.

Danielle is creating her spring rolls, which she'll deep fry

just before serving.

Meanwhile, Laszlo is working on his main element,

a cannon of lamb.

I'm going to brine it.

Some pink peppercorn, fresh herbs,

going to get all the flavours into the meat.

He'll cover his lamb in a herb crust

and pan fry at the last minute.

So, Laszlo's dish...

He's doing this lovely kind of roasted cannon of lamb,

but he's water bathing it first.

Yes. How do you feel about that? When you're water bathing meat,

you know, you've got to keep flavour in there so it needs to be

roasted and caramelised on the outside

and he needs to pay real care and attention to that.

This is my favourite dish. I'm looking to impress Lisa with it.

Wanting to find out more about the jack And Jill comics,

of which more than 1,500 editions were published over 30 years,

Laszlo invited cartoonist Nigel Parkinson to his restaurant.

This was the first comic I ever read. So beautifully clone, isn't it?

The colours, it looks so natural and real.

What did you draw before, Nigel?

Well, I've been drawing for a long time. Many years.

At the moment, I'm doing The Be a no, Dennis The Menace,

but I've drawn almost everything in my time.

You see, my ingredients are the blank page,

and then I get the pencil and I get the brush and the pen,

and I bring the script in, and I mix it all together and make it work out

really well, if I can.

You're quite a lot younger than me,

so I'm wondering what drew YOU to this comic?

Basically, the title of the comic, The Buttercup Farm,

caught my attention.

And then I have elements on the plate

and then the presentation, which links to the farm life.

Would you like to try it? Oh, I would.

That is nice.

Oh, yeah! Thank you.

Back in the kitchen,

Laszlo is prepping a herb crust for his lamb.

Caroline stuffs her poussin.

With a cooking time of 40 minutes,

she needs to get it into the oven.

Caroline, how's it going?

You've got a little bit of worry.

I'm keeping an eye on the clock,

but I might be a little bit late to the pass, but I'm doing my best.

Listen, don't panic. Control. Yes.

And push through it. Amazing. Thank you so much, Chef.

After trussing it, she covers the poussin with English mustard

and pops in the oven, before pushing on with her vegetables.

Laszlo is first to the pass.

After removing his lamb cannon from the water bath,

he sears in butter and rosemary to ramp up the flavour.

I'm really happy with the way the meat turned out.

Nice colour, a nice caramelisation.

Just need to let it rest for a few minutes,

then I'm absolutely good to go.

Next, he adds his pulled braised lamb shoulder

into miniature metal buckets.

Probably going to need your help, guys, a little bit for plating,

if that's all right. Yeah.

For his farm-inspired theme, he'll be serving his main course

on hay with jack and jilt's dog Patch alongside.

You've got eight minutes to the pass, Laszlo. Yes, Chef.

I think I'm going to be a bit early.

Early? Yeah.

To a wooden plate, he adds dauphinoise potato

followed by a roasted carrot.

I've got some lamb fat, cooked carrots,

a bit of braised lamb shoulder on the top.

He crowns with pickled carrot...

...and tops his cannon with herb crust and adds to his plate.

If you could fill up the jugs with the jus, please.

Lambjus is decanted... Thank you.

...as Laszlo adds lovage espuma over his braised lamb,

the mash on his shepherd's pie,

and brings his dish to the pass.

Name of dish - jack And jilt's Dinner.

The inspiration is jack And Jill Of Buttercup Farm.

What do we think, guys? That looks amazing. I love it.

Come on, then. Let's go. Let's go.

Good luck, Laszlo. Thank you, guys.

Good luck, Chef. Thank you.

What do you think about the looks of this, then?

Looks amazing. It looks great and I love the connection.

His farm life and...

It's a simple, clear thing.

So, the lamb, are you happy with the way that's turned out?

Yes.

I like the cooking inside and the nice caramelisation outside.

I think the cooking's really good.

I mean, when you water bath meat, you're always going to get

that certain texture to it.

Yeah, cos he did finish it in the pan.

Yeah. If he'd gone all the way in the pan... Yeah.

...to have a nicer caramelisation around it... Yeah.

Do you think that the depth of flavour is enough

in that braised meat?

I'd like to think so, yes.

What were you trying to achieve with the espuma of lovage on the top?

The lovage was there to cut through the richness

of the braised meat.

Still got a bit of texture to it.

Yeah. A bit of bite.

He really got the lovage on the top there.

Yeah, I like that shoulder.

I think it's really nice.

Ancl if you were to score it yourself, what would you give it?

That's a tricky one. Erm...

I'd like to get an eight.

I think this, for me, is a strong nine.

A strong nine? Yes.

Danielle? I'd go a really, really high eight if that was possible.

The fact that he's managed to do it all in that time is unbelievable.

Ancl it fits with the brief.

Just, I would say, I've had a lot like it before.

How was it, Laszlo? It's all right, doing all right.

Next to serve is Danielle.

You've got four minutes to the pass, Danielle. Yes, Chef.

But with so much left to do, Lazlo needs to lend a hand.

You want me to fry all these spring rolls? Yeah.

If you just fry all of them, that would be best.

If you could just stir that one on the left as well, please. Yes.

Thank you.

You've got 2 minutes to the pass now, Danielle.

Yes, Chef.

With Caroline keeping an eye on her noodle sauce,

she adds her cold chicken breast to a bone china plate.

Next, she adds her pickled vegetables, maitake mushroom,

cabbage leaf, broccoli, baby leek and daikon radish.

She's already late to the pass and there's a problem...

What temp is it on?

Is it not on full?

It's on 160. Oh, right. There we go.

The fryer is not hot enough.

Going to need an extra couple of minutes, Danielle?

If I could, yeah, for my spring rolls. How many?

Two minutes, please.

She plates noodles dressed in the peanut sauce, with ginger

and spring onion dipping sauce on the side,

before checking on her spring rolls.

You happy with the spring rolls?

If the fryer heats up, I'd love to fry 'em again, but...

I don't think so.

Laszlo adds gold leaf and plates,

before finishing with pickled bean sprouts.

Five minutes late to the pass, she serves her take

on Paddington Bear's Chinese New Year feast.

You like playing with time, don't you?

It's fun. THEY LAUGH

Is it your favourite? Yeah! Got a bit dicey.

The name of my dish is Paddington's First Chinese New Year,

and my inspiration is one of the latest episodes

of Paddington Bear, where Ms Potts is missing home and he puts on

a Chinese New Year party to cheer her up.

Shall we go and try? Yes, please. Let's go. Thank you.

I can't wait to try it. Good luck, Chef. Thank you.

The chicken - is that the result you were looking for?

I think it's a bit risky serving it cold, but the whole idea

is that then the sauce is really, really hot and that almost warms up

the aromas and the texture of the chicken.

It's a bit weird, serving it cold.

I would expect it at least room temperature.

I think it's meant to be like that.

The handmade noodles, are you happy with the texture of the noodles,

the flavour that's coming through from the peanut?

I really like the bounce of the noodles. It's quite difficult.

You have to really roll it a few times.

I really like the sauce, the richness that it brings to it.

I think it's the richest element of the dish with the peanut butter.

What do you think about the noodles? I love the noodles.

They're the hero of the plate here for me. They're delicious.

The spring roll - is the texture what you wanted to achieve in that?

Is that where you wanted it?

No, I should have checked the fryer. The fryer was on 160.

I should have turned it up to 190 to get that colour and the real crunch

that you get from a spring roll.

I think the spring roll wasn't as crispy as I think she wanted,

but flavourwise, I really liked it.

If you were to mark this dish yourself, what would you give it?

I'd probably give it either a six or seven.

Have you opened up your red envelope?

What do we have here? Chocolate money!

I guess that's the sign of the prosperity to come. Yeah.

All right, so, some scores. Caroline?

I would score this dish a seven

because I think the noodles and that sauce

are the only elements that I really like.

I'd give an eight.

The only issue for me was a bit under seasoned

and the spring roll was, obviously, not as crispy as it should be.

Last to the pass is Caroline,

with a tea party to celebrate Alice In Wonderland.

Thank you so much for the help, guys. No problem.

While Laszlo and Danielle arrange her table, Caroline starts plating.

I'm piping some Brazil nut hummus at the bottom of my pot

to make my salad.

She adds baby courgette, baby carrots and beetroot.

Those are little veggies, organically grown in Manchester.

THEY LAUGH

WOW!

I feel like I'm under dressed.

As Laszlo pours chicken gravy into white rabbit jugs,

she completes her salad pot with sorrel, pea shoots

and a nasturtium.

Caroline, you're clue to the pass now.

Yes.

I will need two minutes, please.

Two extra minutes? Two extra minutes, please. Thank you.

She pipes more Brazil nut hummus

before delivering her roasted poussin on a tray...

...with her polenta playing cards

and Brazilian truffle cheese bread rolls.

The name of the dish is A Feast In Wonderland,

and my inspiration is Alice In Wonderland.

Mad Hatter's Tea Party, a bit Mad Hatter.

A bit Mad Hatter. This is the Mad Hatter's drink here.

So this is a cocktail I make with a mixture of liqueurs.

Orange juice, pineapple juice.

Very tropical, very sweet.

SHE SQUEALS

THEY LAUGH

Pow! Let's go and taste.

Thank you, 9W5-

Thank you.

So the consistency of the stuffing of the poussin

and the seasoning of it,

do you think it comes through enough?

Um...

I under seasoned it

because for my taste I like a little bit more salt,

so I'm happy with that.

Danielle, cooking on the bird.

Good. Really nice and juicy.

It is juicy. Yeah.

The mousse is nice, a bit salty for me, the mousse itself.

It is quite high in salt.

The texture of the polenta.

Ancl do you think you get enough cheese coming through?

Yes.

I don't... I don't like it.

I'm not going to lie to you, I don't like it.

I think it's just too gummy.

Very jelly-like. Yeah.

The plant pot on the side, the cold salad.

Do you think the contrast between the cold element

and the hot element, do you think it works together?

I quite enjoy it.

It's a little break from if you're eating something warm,

then you go to something fresh and cold.

I feel like this is one thing

and this is another thing,

and I'm not sure why they're hanging out together.

I think she was trying too hard, I guess.

If you were to score this dish yourself, what would you give it?

An eight.

I would change the proportions

of Brazil nut hummus and Parmesan clipping sauce.

Ancl I would go lower on the fresh truffle for my cheesy bread.

I'd give a five

because the veg pot... got no connection to the dish.

And, you know, the odd bunch of raw vegetables.

I'd probably go the same.

I just think that maybe a little bit more thought has been put

into the presentation of it than the actual cooking itself.

Than the elements on the actual plate.

Hi, guys. Here she is.

How are you?

It was intense.

It always is, isn't it?

Did she give anything away? No, no.

We got three completely different styles.

So different. Mm.

None of them kind of made it,

made a clean getaway. No.

Ancl I think it's going to be quite interesting going into dessert.

Three distinctly different chefs, three distinctly different styles,

three distinctly different palates. Yeah.

And all of them challenging in their own way.

So I'm really interested to see the sweet interpretations in a minute.

Before we get there, though, you've got to nail those scores down. Ooh!

Shall we find out the scores?

Yes. Yes.

Let's go.

As the scoreboard stands, Danielle is in the lead on 16 points.

Laszlo is on 12 and Caroline is trailing on 10.

Hi, Chefs.

Hello. Hello.

So some really interesting interpretations of the brief,

some more successful than others.

Laszlo, for your dish,

jack Ancl Jill's Dinner.

I love your link to the brief

and your personal connection to the story.

The lamb was cooked really well.

I like the addition of the crust and the freshness of those herbs.

Braised lamb shoulder on the side with the lovage espuma,

it was a great idea,

but it needed more clarity between the layers.

It was too loose and soupy.

You needed to reduce the sauce more and thicken that espuma.

This could be a very good dish.

You just need to execute it better.

Danielle, for your dish,

Paddington's First Chinese New Year,

it was a fresh approach to a main course.

It was a big, bold move.

The chicken was moist and very well cooked.

It was, however, a bit too chilled.

Instead of serving it fridge cold,

I would suggest serving at room temperature.

I love the clipping sauce with the chicken, but it needed more of it.

That's the main seasoning and the heat to your chicken.

The noodles were made well,

long, soft and coated with that powerful peanut sauce.

The spring roll, you said it yourself,

it needed to be crispy.

You had an issue with the fryer,

and it needs to be spot-on.

Caroline, for your dish, A Feast In Wonderland,

beautifully presented at the pass.

It told a story and felt very magical.

The poussin with the truffle mousse was well made.

I wasn't a fan of the polenta texture, but maybe you could fry it

so it's crispy on the outside and soft in the middle.

For me, the salad bowl just didn't work.

Some good techniques, but two different dishes

that didn't work together.

So to the scores.

Laszlo...

I'm scoring you...

...a SEVEN.

I think potentially this dish could score higher

if you just sort out some of those little hiccups.

I think you can make more success if you keep doing what you're doing

because it was great.

Danielle...

...I'm scoring you...

...a SEVEN.

I agree with Lisa that the fridge-cold chicken

was just a little bit of a culinary step

too far for our palates, I think.

So little tweaks again for you, I think.

Caroline...

...|'m giving you...

...a six.

The main issue, I think, was the plant pot

with raw, untreated vegetables on top of the hummus.

I just... I don't think it had a place in your dish, really

and it left me feeling a little bit confused.

So next up, it's the sweet courses.

It's a chance to get really creative

and tell some brilliant stories.

Thank you. Thank you. See you in a minute.

Thank you.

Top scores. Well done. Well clone, guys.

Are we all ready for sweets? Yes, let's go.

Indeed. Let's do it. Yeah.

I'm feeling relatively happy with the score of my main course.

It could have been better, but I know,

for future now, what to work on.

Obviously, I'm a bit disappointed in myself

cos, as I said, I expected more,

not just from the scores, from myself, as well.

I'm very proud of the dish I produced

and I will just take the feedback and improve for my dessert.

With the mains behind them,

the chefs must now focus on their pre-desserts.

I love a good dessert.

You can really show your passion and your creativity.

You can go wild with it.

Like the canapes, the pre-desserts aren't scored,

but will be used to settle a tie-break.

I'm just going to bring this to the boil, let it chill down.

For his pro-dessert, Laszlo is making a boozy ice lolly,

churning tonic water, curacao, orange zest and blue food colouring

in an ice cream machine.

It's inspired by Doctor Manhattan from the Watchmen comic novel.

And he was blue? He was blue.

The colouristjohn Higgins -

so the colourist of the character in the book -

is from Liverpool, so great connection to the North West.

There we go. Yeah. In terms of flavour,

it's more on the bitter side... Bitter side.

...because I think it just needs to get that palate cleansed.

Wonderful. Well, I hope it works out for you.

I have confidence.

Danielle is whipping up a goat's yoghurt mousse,

combining yoghurt, eggs, sugar and gelatine.

Her inspiration is a very famous illustrated giant.

The title of my pre-dessert is Sophie's Snozzcumber Stew and...

BFG. Yes, there we go.

So, I'm doing a whipped goat's yoghurt mousse on the bottom,

serving it in some giant-size...

So, we've got a copper bowl with some shovels.

Then we've got compressed cucumber.

Ancl then I'm going to use the leftover cucumber

to blitz into a snow.

Hopefully, I'll freeze it in liquid nitrogen

with lots of wild herbs that you would find in giant land.

I'm really looking forward to it. I hope it works out for you.

Thank you very much. It sounds delicious. Thank you. Thank you.

Meanwhile, Caroline is churning her sorbet with liquid nitrogen.

It's flavoured with calamansi fruit, Southeast Asian lime,

for her ode to the stories about lovable locomotives

created by William Aw dry.

The inspiration is Henry from Thomas The Tank Engine.

Oh, one of Thomas's friends. Yes.

It consists of coconut rice pudding.

Oh, yum! There is no milk.

It's just coconut milk, coconut cream, shaved coconut.

I love that. I want a bunch of coconut flavour in there.

Ancl then a quenelle of my calamansi sorbet.

Simple. Sounds refreshing,

somewhere in between the sweet and savoury,

which is where we'd like to be for the pre-dessert. Exactly.

All right, well, I'll let you get on with it.

It sounds lovely. I hope it works out for you.

OK. Thank you so much, Andi. Thanks.

As Caroline starts to plate her coconut rice pudding,

which will rest on a mini Henry engine...

...Danielle creates a wild herb snow...

...and Laszlo unmoulds his frozen lollies

and presents them upright in his stone-filled box.

They're nice and blue.

Last 30 seconds, lovely people.

Fabulous. Well done.

Lovely. You all happy? Yes.

Oh, your train!

Don't forget Henry.

Lisa will blind-taste the pre-desserts

and rank them in order of preference.

Beautiful. Thank you, darling. Well, they're electric.

What shall we start with? Shall we go there?

It's lovely. Yeah. I love the textures, as well.

This one was inspired by the BFG.

Quite refreshing. Yeah.

It's really nice. Definitely. Not too sweet.

The cucumber's lovely. It gives that very light flavour to it.

We just need a little bit of zing

just to clean it up a little bit. Right. Yeah. Yeah.

Enjoy, guys. Thank you.

Whee'. THEY CHUCKLE

That sorbet's delicious. Thank you. Really refreshing.

I'm a big fan of rice pudding. Yeah. And it was a good move

putting that calamansi sorbet on there, as well.

Ooh! I feel like a kid. Yeah.

Ooh, your tongue just went turquoise straight away.

Did it? Yeah. Ooh!

Ooh, blimey!

Ooh! Getting brain freeze.

I'm not a big fan of the flavour of it. Very bitter, that.

Yeah, it is very bitter.

So, I'd like you, please, Lisa, to rate them in order of preference.

This is number one. Yeah.

Number two, the rice pudding.

Ancl number three, the funky lollypop.

Do you think you might be able to guess who made which one?

Danielle...

"Caroline,

Laszlo. Correct. Really?!

Absolutely, completely correct. I was toying then.

It's time for the dessert course.

It's the final course and the chefs' last chance to impress Lisa.

Danielle is in the lead with 23,

Laszlo is on 19, and Caroline is on 16 points.

It's dessert, let's go.

Caroline is making a chocolate egg to celebrate the legendary Pingu -

a tricky element to get right in the warm GBM kitchen.

She needs to get the inside of her egg - a cremeux -

into the blast chiller quickly to firm up,

so she starts on that first,

blending eggs, sugar and milk with chocolate.

I have my cremeux mix here.

It's going to cook up to 83 Celsius.

She pours into moulds before adding her frozen hazelnut-paste centre.

She tops up the egg and leaves to freeze.

Hey, Caroline. Hello, Andi.

So, the title of my dish is Pingu Looks After The Egg.

Oh, we love Pingu. Yes. Everybody loves Pingu, right?

My dish is going to reflect the episode

which is the second episode of the first series,

so it's going to look like an egg,

and I'm going to have a little Pingu on the side.

How are you constructing the egg?

I'm going to build a chocolate cremeux

with hazelnut nougat insert,

and then I'm going to clip it in cocoa butter. Quite tricky. Yes.

It's very tricky. Is it difficult to do?

Yeah, because temperature is against you

cos it's all about the temperature of the chocolate,

taking it up, taking it down, so you get a fine snap to it.

Exactly.

With four chocolate elements on her final dish,

Caroline, originally from South America,

has found a chocolatier, Isobel Carse,

in her adopted home, Manchester,

who sources her cocoa beans from Brazil.

Hi, Isobel. Hi, Caroline.

I'm working on a chocolate dessert for Great British Menu,

and I'm on the looks for the best chocolate you could give me.

Fab. Well, I have some beans which I think would be perfect for you.

CHOCOLATE SNAPS Ooh! Nice snap.

It's bitter, silky, sharp,

a lot of depth in it.

That's perfect for my dessert.

Excellent. I will get that made for you. And good luck.

Back in the kitchen, Caroline is making a brownie batter,

adding her dark Brazilian chocolate to flour and eggs...

My only concern is the time.

I'm the first one on the pass,

so I just want to make sure every element is spot-on.

...while Danielle is making a sponge, adding condensed milk to a cake mix.

She's currently in the lead, but her fortunes could change

if she fails to deliver with this course.

I just want to make sure I get all the flavours right,

all the components right, and I really hit the brief on this one.

She's honouring a very special builder

with links to her hometown of Manchester.

Hey, Danielle. Hello.

OK, so talk to me about your dessert, my darling.

So, the title is Builder's Tea & Cake...

Oh, my God. ..and it's Bob the Builder.

Bob the Builder - where was that made?

So, the animation was made in Manchester. Right.

Which is your link. Yes. I like it. I like it. I like it.

So, I'm doing a condensed milk sponge... Ooh, yum.

...and then doing an Earl Grey creme brulee,

just to hit those notes again,

but instead of cooking it in the oven,

I'm going to cook it in the pan.

Poached pears in verjus and pear juice.

And any sorbet, ice cream?

My builder's tea ice cream to go on the side.

Wow! Sounds... It sounds fabulous.

Quite challenging. Yeah, yeah. You've got pear.

It's quite a difficult flavour to pull out. Yeah.

It's not like an apple that's got a great acidity

or anything like that. It's quite light,

so to get that prominent in the dish is quite a difficult thing, so...

Are you very familiar with builders and tea?

My brothers are builders. Brothers! Yeah. How many?

Two brothers. Two older brothers. Two builders. Yeah.

That's a lot of tea. Yeah! Yeah.

So, this is a little sweet thing for them. Yeah,

so it's a little nod to those two.

Thank you very much. Good luck. Thank you.

Danielle moves on to her builder's tea ice cream,

mixing egg yolks and sugar with the milk infused with teabags.

Laszlo's main element is also a cake -

a Latin American pionono in hon our of a little Peruvian bear.

Hey, Laszlo. Hi, Andi.

Tell me the title of your dish, please.

So, the name of my dessert is The Battered Suitcase.

The Battered Suitcase? Yeah.

And you can guess - the inspiration is Paddington.

Paddington. Yeah. It's his 65th anniversary. Exactly.

So, basically, he arrived with a bit of a battered suitcase.

From Peru. From Peru, exactly.

So, I'm going to put my dessert in a battered suitcase.

With the pionono, the traditional South American dessert,

it's similar to a Swiss roll, but, obviously, a Swiss roll

is filled with whipped cream or jam or anything.

This one is going to be filled with a pastry cream.

It's going to be a Peruvian dark chocolate cremeux... Right.

...a spicy mango salsa,

and it's going to be a marmalade ice cream because...

Marmalade ice cream! ..our Paddington loves ice cream. Yeah.

Yum! I love the sound of marmalade ice cream.

I think it sounds delicious.

Are you relying on the salsa to give acidity to the dish?

Mainly, yes. The marmalade in the ice cream, it's a bit bitter,

and I'm not making my ice cream overly sweet, either.

Sounds delicious. Thank you. See you in a bit.

Having whipped his egg whites into peaks,

Laszlo folds into his sponge mix before leaving to bake.

Meanwhile, Caroline is getting ready for the trickiest part of her dish -

coating her now-frozen eggs with melted cocoa butter.

If her chocolate is just one degree too warm,

it won't set, and her eggshell won't have a snap.

Now I'm clipping the eggs, I need it to be defrosted,

so I guess I'll need 20 minutes more, at least.

Hello, Caroline. Hello, Chef.

So, how's the time looking? Are you under control?

Erm, everything is setting,

so I just needed to defrost my egg... Yeah.

...so I might be a bit late to the pass.

If it's not right, I don't want to serve it, you know?

Ancl it should be right. Absolutely. Absolutely.

Last dish, big push. Yes!

You'll do well. Thank you so much, Chef. Come on, Caroline!

Caroline knows that if she's over five minutes late,

she'll lose points, so, with plating approaching,

she quickly moves on to another chocolate element -

decorative strings.

Danielle is also in a race against the clock.

I'm making a condensed milk cake,

so it's made more like a batter than a regular sponge,

so it's really difficult to get the cook right on it

and get it light and airy.

She's still got many elements to complete,

including an Earl Grey creme brulee.

She slowly cooks tea, cream, vanilla, egg yolks and sugar

to 82 degrees before passing to prevent any lumps.

Danielle, what have you got going on here?

So, this is my Earl Grey creme brulee recipe.

Can I have a try? Yeah, of course.

So, you're happy with the impact of the Earl Grey coming through enough?

Yeah. Yeah, I think it sits well with the ice cream, as well.

It hits more tea notes, so it brings it round all together.

Just need to chill it off a bit more.

Caroline continues to anxiously wait for her eggs to defrost.

She's getting later and later to the pass.

Meanwhile, Danielle poaches pears in verjus...

...and Laszlo is mixing diced fresh mango,

Peruvian mint, chopped red chilli and lime juice for a salsa.

How's it going, Laszlo? Chef. Can I have a try of your cream? Yeah.

Lovely.

Hmm, interesting.

Yes? Are you under control? Yeah. Are you quite happy? Yeah.

The cremeux is in the blast chiller. It's setting.

Ice cream is churning. This one is going to go in the fridge.

And then...almost there.

Confident. I like it. I like it! Thank you, Chef.

Laszlo pipes his orange zest and marmalade ice cream into jars

ready for service.

Still waiting for the inside of her egg to defrost,

Caroline is now 18 minutes late to the pass.

How's it going? Yes, I might need five.

I don't think we can give you any extra time, Caroline,

so I'm going to have to get you up here with what you've got.

Allowing Caroline even more time

would start to impact on the other chefs' cooking,

so she has no option but to plate.

She starts with her brownie rings before checking on her eggs.

With the clock ticking, veteran Lisa steps in.

Let me help you. Caroline, let her help you.

I'm clone right now. Caroline, if Lisa's offering you help,

I would take it. Yeah.

Determined to continue without help...

just leave it with me. I'm going to finish plating. Thank you.

You good, yeah? Yes. Thank you so much.

...she pipes pineapple gel into the brownies

before adding chocolate strings to create a nest.

She places her egg onto the pineapple gel.

Really need you on the pass now, please, Caroline. Yes.

You might not have time to do your sorbet.

To a ramekin, she adds a rocher of pineapple sorbet

before FINALLY bringing her dessert to the pass.

There we go. Phew!

The only thing missing is coconut powder

to give the illusion of snow.

Looks good. Thank you so much.

To get something up, you've clone really well.

It is Pingu Looks After The Egg. Inspiration is Pingu.

Come on, let's go and try. Of course. Good luck.

What do you think about what she's managed to get up, then?

Looks lovely. Yeah. She should be happy.

The shell on the outside...

...is it the consistency of the crack that you wanted?

Yeah, quite like it.

So, tempering of the chocolate...

...it hasn't worked, has it? It's really soft. Yeah.

There's no crack, there's no snap to it.

That depth of flavour coming through from the mousse -

do you think the flavour of the mousse balances perfectly

with the rest of the ingredients on the plate?

Yes, I do think so, because the sorbet is quite acid,

so when you eat it all together, one balances the other.

Talk to me about the cremeux inside, Danielle.

Mine was still frozen.

I think it's just too much chocolate.

Too big. Yeah. Yeah, she should have gone for a smaller egg.

It would have helped on time, as well.

Ancl the texture of the brownie -

do you think that complements the rest of the dish? Yes.

The brownie has a nice texture.

It's very, like, what you want from a brownie.

It's good chew, squidgy. Squidgy, fudgy. Yeah.

OK, give me your scores. What do you think, Danielle?

Probably go for a six. Yeah, I'd go for the same.

If you were to score this dish, what would you score it yourself?

Six.

Thank you very much, Caroline. Thank you.

Hey, guys. How do you feel about it?

It is what it is, you know what I mean?

Danielle is up next with her Bob the Builder-inspired dessert.

She brushes her builder's tea sponge with verjus

before adding it to the mock building site.

I've not brought the power tools with me,

so just the hats today.

She pipes her builder's tea ice cream into mugs

before adding her Earl Grey custard into the centre of her cake.

You've got four minutes to the pass, Danielle. Yes, Chef.

On go the poached verjus pears,

followed by honey gel and the miso salted caramel...

...finished with roasted cobnuts.

With hard hats on,

her dish is served to the Bob The Builder theme tune.

# Bob the Builder Can we fix it?

# Bob the Builder Yes, we can!

# Scoop, Muck and Dizzy... #

Oh, lovely!

So, the name of my dish is Builder's Tea & Cake,

and the inspiration is Bob the Builder.

Let's go and taste. Good luck. Good luck, Chef. Thank you.

What do you think about the texture of the cake?

Bit worried about it being a bit too dense with everything else,

but it worked out well today, yeah.

I think it's really nice. I think it's a bit too big in size.

It is quite hefty, isn't it? Yeah.

The acidity of the pear -

do you think it's enough to cut through the dish? I do, yeah.

I think the honey and the extra verjus, as well,

yeah, I think it's balanced.

Are the pears doing the job they're on the plate to do?

I don't think so. I like the texture of them,

but the actual pear flavour - a bit lost.

Pear is so subtle, isn't it? Yeah.

Quite hard to get that to really punch through.

Are you happy with the depth of flavour

coming through in the ice cream?

This was my first time doing it to, like, its full potential.

I'm really happy with the smoothness.

The ice cream, it's amazing. It's great, right?

Really nice. It tastes like a tea.

Caroline, can you give me a score, please? Erm, an eight,

because I like all the flavours.

It's just a bit too big. How about you, Laszlo?

I'd go for a nine.

Yeah, it's a bit too big in size and the pear is a bit lost,

but other than that, it's a really strong dessert.

So, if you were going to score this dish,

what would you score it?

I'd probably go a high eight, if I could,

if that's not too optimistic.

Hi. Hello. You OK? There she is.

How was it in there? Scary, as always.

Laszlo's Ode To Paddington

is the final dish to be served to veteran Lisa.

You've got four minutes to the pass.

He pipes pastry cream onto his rolled sponge...

...while Danielle adds mango salsa

to side plates next to his chocolate cremeux.

A tiny bit more. And just... Flatten it? Yeah, flatten it. Yeah.

He decorates his pionono with cocoa tuiles

and places in his suitcase.

Finally, in goes the jar of marmalade ice cream.

That's the marmalade ice cream.

Obviously, it's Paddington's favourite. Yeah.

Oh, wow!

Can we have a look? Yes.

Ooh!

Look at that!

So, the name of the dish - Battered Suitcase.

And then the inspiration is Paddington the Bear.

Right, Laszlo, let's go and taste.

Good luck, Laszlo. Thank you. Enjoy it, guys.

There you go. Thank you. Good luck, Chef. Thank you.

So, the pionono is a main part of your dish.

Do you think the ratio's right between sponge to pastry cream?

I like the creamy texture of it. I think it was right.

It's amazing. It's lovely.

Texture is beautiful, light, spongy, airy.

Genoise sponge - light, beautiful. Rolled perfect.

Ancl the mango salsa on the side with the chilli -

do you think the heat is coming through enough?

I think it's enough there.

And, obviously, the lime zest and the lime juice

give that acidity to the dish, what it needs.

And then we've got this mango chilli little salsa.

He's managed to balance the chilli, do you think?

Yeah, I think the heat is just there.

Yeah, it's lovely.

And the 'me cream...

...is that kind of the temperature and the texture that you wanted?

Maybe a tiny bit softer.

Flavour-wise, I think the marmalade,

that slight bitterness comes through really nice.

This baby - what do you think, Caroline?

I quite like it. Nice and acid, refreshing.

Do you think the chocolate cremeux fits in on the dish? I think so.

It has a strong connection to the brief.

I used Peruvian dark chocolate.

Let's go for some scores. Danielle, you first.

I think he could get a ten for that.

Yeah, ten, as well. It's delicious.

Ancl if you were to mark it yourself, what would you give it?

I'd give an eight because of the texture of the ice cream.

Well clone, Laszlo. And thank you very much. Thank you, Chef.

How are you doing, guys? How was it? You know, just as usual-

didn't give away anything. Yes. Are you happy? Yeah.

I think everything turned out as I wanted.

It was delicious. Really, really, really good. Lovely dish, yeah.

Wow! That was quite an eventful dessert course, Lisa.

It just proves that, you know,

time can come under pressure in a kitchen.

All three desserts made me smile...

Yes. Yeah, they did. Yeah. ..when I looked at them.

Very tricky scoring you've got, my love.

Been very tricky scoring all week. Yeah.

Are we ready to get our wonderful scores, hopefully?

Yeah, let's go. Yeah. Let's go, guys.

As the scores stand, Danielle is in the lead with 23,

Laszlo is second on 19, and Caroline is trailing on 16.

Hello, Chefs. ALL: Hello.

Good, strong personal connections to the brief,

but, of course, we can't ignore the fact that

the legendary dessert difficulties

in the GBM kitchen reared their head today.

Danielle, for your dish, Builder's Tea & Cake...

...the presentation was fun and definitely hit the brief.

I really enjoyed your tea ice cream.

It was silky smooth, great texture and flavour.

The condensed milk sponge was made well

and I liked the addition of the verjus on the top.

It could have been a little bit smaller, as it was quite big.

The poached pears -

I liked the texture of them, but they weren't powerful enough

to stand up to all that sweetness on the plate.

The Earl Grey creme brulee wasn't set enough,

and it was a little bit too sweet for me.

Laszlo, for your dish, The Battered Suitcase -

great use of Peruvian ingredients

to link to the Paddington Bear inspiration.

Marmalade ice cream was really good, smooth,

and had good chunks of orange in it.

I really liked the mango salsa.

It brought a great freshness to the dish.

The chocolate cremeux was really silky and smooth,

and it was a good move to use that Peruvian chocolate.

It gave a great flavour.

Your main event was a pionono.

The sponge was made well,

but the pastry cream was far too thin.

Caroline, for your dish, Pingu Looks After The Egg -

as always, you brought a smile

to everyone's face with your presentation.

The chocolate brownie was well made -

gooey, fudgy in the centre.

Loved the addition of the pineapple sorbet on the side.

It brought a great acidity to refresh your palate

after that rich chocolate.

You obviously had some timing issues and you were 20 minutes late.

Unfortunately, the egg was still frozen in the middle.

The chocolate nest didn't have a snap that I was hoping for.

The dish was missing a crunch, a texture.

And so to the scores. Danielle...

...I'm scoring you...

...an eight.

I loved your personal connection to the story with this dish.

It was just all a little too big. Yeah. Laszlo...

...I'm scoring you...

...an eight. I'm quite a fan of this dish.

I have to say I really enjoyed it.

It needs a few tweaks here and there,

and I think you could score even higher with it. Caroline...

...|'m giving you...

...a six.

So, I'm sorry, Caroline, you will be leaving us.

Your dishes have been great fun, of course

the pressure of this competition is intense.

Thank you so much for coming. Thank you.

Well, good luck tomorrow,

and please take on my advice and go and smash it.

Yeah. Yeah. We'll try. Best of luck.

Thank you. Thank you, Chefs. Thank you. Thank you.

It was fun. Yeah. You should be really proud of yourself.

It was fun. You cooked your whole menu.

You brought such a good energy to the kitchen.

Thank you so much. Ancl good luck for tomorrow. Yeah.

Thank you. I think we're going to need it.

I'm really proud to showcase what I do and my style of cookery,

and just to be here is just such a massive hon our.

I think I have what it takes to win.

I'm going to take all the advice on board and I'm going to smash it.

I'm thrilled to cook for the judges tomorrow.

It's always been a dream of mine to be able to do that, so it's amazing.

The judges are going to have a tough job tomorrow.

They're both very close in points and they're both gunning for it.

Next time, there are thrills and spills in the kitchen...

Can you get a mop, please?

...as Danielle and Laszlo give it their all...

Never had anything like that before. So good.

...but who will emerge victorious?