Original subtitles

It's the battle for the North West. And our two highest-scoring chefs,

Danielle and Laszlo, are competing for a place in the national finals.

They'll have to win over not only our judges, but also our guest

judge, who has voiced some of our most iconic animated

characters, including Babs from Chicken Run.

I don't want to be a pie.

I don't like gravy!

I hope their food is better than his impersonation.

This week, four of the North West's finest chefs battled it out.

I'm still fighting for it!

Now the final two remain.

GROANING

Laszlo Nagy was born in Hungary, but he's made

the North West his home.

He's classically trained, and until very recently was head chef

at Green Michelin-starred Hypha in Chester.

Getting into the national final, it would be such a huge thing for me.

And Danielle Heron - she's trained with some of the best chefs

in Europe and is now chef-owner of Osma in Manchester.

I never thought I'd make it this far, so to go even further

would be just the icing on the cake.

Both first-timers in the competition,

they're determined in their quest to impress the judges,

with dishes inspired by animation and illustration.

Everything is probably my worry at the moment.

To make a dish which requires 1 hour 45

in 1 hour 15 - that's a bit tricky.

From the building site...

Look at the little lollipop stick pallet!

...to the farm...

Patch is back.

...and deep into the ocean.

In terms of flavour, it's fabulous.

They're pulling out all the stops to emerge victorious today and get

a chance to cook at our banquet.

Going through to cook at the national finals is...

I'm so excited. To make it to the national finals,

it would mean everything.

I'm going to bring my A-game.

I'm terrified.

I never thought I'd get here in the first place,

so to be here is just... It's amazing.

Good morning, chefs.

Good morning. Good morning. How are you doing?

Good, yeah. Yeah? Ready to get going.

You're both new to the competition,

so you've never been in this position before. No. No.

How are your nerves? How are you feeling, Danielle?

Yeah, definitely nervous. It's like going back to clay one again.

Is it? Indeed. My belly's doing somersaults. Yep.

But at the end of the clay, it's four new palates,

so I look at it as a blank canvas, so... Yeah.

The slate is wiped completely clean.

I like the energy in here.

I can't wait to see how you get on. All right? Thank you. Great.

Right, see you in a little bit.

With their six-course menus to prepare, as well

as vegetarian alternatives for today's guest judge,

they need to get a wriggle on.

I'm getting my mushroom broth on for my starter.

Oyster emulsion clone.

All my sauces ready.

I've got the fish sauce going on.

I've got the sauce for the vegetarian course.

If I screw up this, everything is going to go down the drain.

How are you getting on, Laszlo? Are you OK? So far, so good.

How are you doing? Good, yeah.

Can you believe we're cooking for some of these judges today?

It's such an hon our, but obviously it puts a huge amount of extra

pressure on myself, personally. I agree.

Our lead judge is a chef with an unrivalled Great British Menu

pedigree - double banquet main course winner,

and he's got a total of three Michelin stars -

Tom Kerridge will be scrutinising our chefs' dishes.

They would have entered this competition, Great British Menu,

wanting to win it. But it's the first time they've competed.

I'm hoping today their enthusiasm and their excitement

will overtake their nerves.

As the judges arrive,

Danielle turns her attention to the first course - canapes.

I'm just making the whipped blue cheese, so I've just softened

it down with a bit of heated cream.

Ancl then I'm going to pass it to get rid of any lumps.

Meanwhile, Laszlo is concentrating on the vegetarian version

of his fish course.

So I'm making the vegetarian mushroom finger.

Obviously, the vegetarian option for the fish finger.

So, some chanterelles, trumpet mushrooms,

a bit of lemon zest, mushroom extract.

So hopefully it tastes good.

With heads down in the kitchen,

it gives me a chance to catch up with head judge Tom

about the week's exploits.

Hello, love. Good morning. How are you doing? I'm all right.

You're very perky. I am, yeah.

I'm ready for some feeding. Ready for some feeding!

You're in the right place, darling. Listen, how has the week gone?

It's been quite a week.

Quite a challenging week, I would say.

But they really listened to brilliant Lisa Goodwin-Allen.

Amazing. Oh, she's so fantastic.

And we had Spencer Metzger in. Oh, really? Spencer was in? Yes.

Fantastic. He came and did fish because Lisa has an allergy. Yeah.

So they had double veterans

at one point. Two of the best. The chefs really listened to them

and implemented changes as they were cooking, actually.

So I think you're going to like some of the dishes.

Well, I'm looking forward to it. Anything up there catches your eye?

Well, Builder's Tea & Cake.

I mean, that sounds just delicious, doesn't it?

I loved it. I mean, first thing in the morning, we're sat here

in the cafe. I've not got a coffee. You've not sorted me out.

I'm very sorry. So, I'm now going,

"I'll tell you what, Builder's Tea & Cake could be perfect."

Joining Tom in the judging chamber are Ed Gamble and Nisha Katona.

With 16 restaurants and counting,

Nisha is one of Britain's top restaurateurs...

This is about them having imagination and excellence

and real mastery, and presenting that on a plate

in the toughest of circumstances.

...whilst Ed is the host of a popular food podcast with fellow comedian

James Acaster.

Very excited for the North West menus here.

I see there's one called Eat Like A Womble, which will be related

to the Wombles, of course. I grew up near

Wimbledon Common, so I know what goes on in Wimbledon Common.

I never saw a Womble. We just drank cans of warm lager.

Morning! You all right? Good morning. Good morning, Torn.

How are we? Very well. It's a big clay today.

It is for you, mate. It's the North West.

My home on a plate.

I've been to your home. I don't want to have that on a plate.

Hoovered home on a plate. It's too big and it's covered in dog hair.

So, listen, what are we hoping for today? Spectacle.

I want to see a little bit of that theme written through the way

that things have been presented.

So a bit more of a kind of breathtaking spectacle

on the plate would be good.

I love a bit of spectacle. And a tasty dinner, Tom?

You know, the North West represents an area that is always

about robust, fantastic, solid cooking, you know, and I'm looking

for those flavours coming through today.

Helping the judges score the dishes is an award-winning actress

and the voice of beloved characters, such as Babs from Chicken Run.

I don't want to be a pie.

I don't like gravy.

It's Jane Horrocks.

Welcome,Jane. Hello! Hi.

How are you? Yeah, good.

Please, take a seat. Thank you. Welcome.

How lovely to have you here.

It's very nice to be here.

So, have you come hungry?

I've come very hungry. Great.

Ancl you're a big foodie. Love food?

Yes, I love food. I'm a very greedy girl.

Snap, Ed? Yes, I'm a very greedy girl, as well.

It's a big full-on clay of food and it's all themed this year,

obviously, on animation and illustration, which is part

of the reason we've invited you because you're a bit

of a kingpin of animation voice over, I would describe you as.

Yes, yeah, I've done a lot of animation.

A lot, which is great.

It's one of my favourite things that I do.

Oh, sandwich, sandwich.

Cheese.

Grapes.

Rubbish picnic.

GASPING

Ice cream!

Ah-h-h!

What do you think of when you think of North West Food?

What are you expecting? To be a little bit more kind of

out there in an interesting way.

That's what we are in the North West, isn't it?

Out there in an interesting way.

Canapes are up first, and Laszlo is preparing the jam

for his bacon and onion jam tarts...

...while Danielle is finely slicing apple

for her beetroot meringues with blue cheese.

All right, my loves. We have three minutes to go.

Is everything going to plan?

Yes, Chef. Yep.

And how are the vegetarian options going?

I'm already vegetarian. How about yours, Laszlo?

Everything's clone for it.

Basically, I just lost the bacon from it.

Ancl then just an onion jam.

Everything else is the same. Good to go. Fantastic.

All right. Wonderful.

As they rush to get their first dishes to the pass, Laszlo

fills his vegetarian tart...

...and Danielle crowns her meringues with whipped blue cheese.

Have you made any changes to your canape?

Just a bit of chardonnay vinegar, just for a bit of extra pop. Mm.

Nice, zingy.

Laszlo tops his tarts with whipped scrambled eggs,

and Danielle carefully balances compressed apple,

and tops with dill.

What's that last little bit you're dusting with, Laszlo?

This is the leek ash.

Oh, it's leek ash. Yeah.

To give the bitterness.

They look fantastic. Shall we send them? Yeah.

Service, please.

We're off.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

First up, it's Danielle's canape.

Shall we? Shall we? Let's do it.

Mm.

What did you think? Yeah, it's really lovely.

Really nice.

And the crunch element of it.

It just disappears, as well, doesn't it?

It does, doesn't it? Yeah, it melts.

That's sort of what you want for a canape.

I feel like I want the rest of it, but I'm trying to save myself.

I think that would be all right to have the rest of that one.

Thought it was a bit blue cheesy, though.

I couldn't quite taste the beetroot.

Yes, I mean, I couldn't taste the beetroot, but I didn't find

the blue cheese overwhelming.

That lovely... What was it?

The apple and the dill, though, picked through that.

No, I agree. You got that sweetness initially and I was a bit worried

about the texture of the meringue. But then the blue cheese

sort of just... Mm. The meringue texture was lush.

And from Laszlo, a bacon and onion jam tart,

with a vegetarian version for Jane.

That was enormous flavour.

Oh, that made me feel great.

I knew it would make you feel great!

That was delicious.

That was a very good start. Mm.

I was worried about whipped scrambled egg.

I didn't know what that would consist of because it didn't taste

scrambled at all to me. No. For me, it was a bit too eggy.

Yeah. It was. You're right.

So, what we do, Jane, is we hold up the one we like best.

Right. Oh, well, there you go.

A tie. There we go, right down the middle.

It's a good start.

Onto starters, and Danielle is serving first.

Lisa gave this dish an eight, suggesting it needed a wider

variety of mushrooms.

I've got girolles, king oysters, some black pearl oysters,

and some white oysters going in there.

There's not "mushroom" for anything else in this dish.

OK. So, the first starter that's coming our way is called

Eat Like A Womble,

and it's roasted mushrooms with black garlic puree,

served with a mushroom cookie.

Ancl it's inspired by the stop-motion animation the Wombles,

and the narrator and voices of Lancashire-born

Bernard Cribbins.

Great. Remember the Wombles? Are you old enough for that?

Yeah, I'm old enough for that. Also, I grew up in Wimbledon,

so the Wombles are local legends.

True. I love the Wombles.

I loved Uncle Bulgaria.

Danielle is baking mushroom cookies from a dough she has infused

with powdered trumpets.

Danielle. Hello. How are you doing?

Good. Yeah. Starter situation?

Yeah. What was Lisa's feedback for you on this dish?

So, it was to portion control the broth a little bit

rather than the big teapot. Ah, yes. So, I've clone that.

And the other feedback was maybe some different mushrooms inside.

It's a beautiful dish, really well-balanced.

You're an excellent chef. I wish you loads of luck. Give us a crisp.

Thank you. Good luck, darling. Thank you.

What did you think of the voices on the Wombles? In those days,

one voice did all the voices, whereas now nowadays there

has to be sort of many different voices.

But I quite like that sort of single voice that told the whole story.

Yeah, it was almost like a bedtime story. Yeah.

It felt like it flowed like a narration.

Yeah, it was kind of less frenetic, as well.

They were much more gentle, those early animations, I think.

Danielle is frying her mushrooms in vegan butter...

Danielle? Yes, Chef. You have four minutes. Yes, Chef.

...and piping sunflower-seed hummus onto her mushroom cookies.

If you could just grate some of the horseradish over the top

for me, please?

Laszlo lends a hand with the garnish, adding

some pickled girolle.

Oh, that smells incredible.

You have three minutes, Danielle. Yes, Chef.

The sauteed mushrooms are dressed with black-garlic puree

and then a lemon thyme pickle gel.

You're due now. Yep.

30 seconds.

And to finish, a sprinkling of artichoke crisps.

Little hats on. Yep.

Looks lovely. Are you happy? Yes. Thank you.

It's yours to send. Service, please.

# Underground, overground Wombling free

# The Wombles of Wimbledon Common are we

# Making good use... #

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

That's beautiful.

It's a lovely little grassy mound.

Isn't it? It's gorgeous.

It's very accurate to the terrain of Wimbledon Common, as well.

I want to wear it as a hat.

Oh, it actually really works. That's perfect. Is it?

Danielle's dish looked absolutely lovely.

They are feeling the pressure, but they're responding well to it.

I hope the judges love that dish.

Ooh, gosh.

That's a lovely broth. The cookie's very tasty.

Yeah.

The black-garlic puree is a big old whack of flavour,

which I absolutely love.

I mean, it feels so autumnal.

It's... I think it's lovely. I think it's a great dish.

Although the Wombles would be absolutely livid to find this.

Yes.

I found the broth a bit too acidic.

Do you think you need the broth?

Mm. Yes. I think it brings things together.

Rather than it being a standalone element,

I think it just weaves all those flavours together.

We know this is a good dish because Nisha has eaten it all.

Wow. Wow. I know.

First dish of the clay,

and Nisha's eaten it all. I do usually eat them all.

You're just not watching me cos you're so busy talking.

So, this is Sea 8; Farm, and it's seared king oyster mushroom,

mushroom garum, broccoli miso puree, torched broccoli.

And it's celebrating The Astounding Broccoli Boy, who turns superhero,

by the fantasfic Frank Cottreu-Boyce,

who comes from Bootle, which is where I went to college.

It's the battle of the mushrooms today. It is, isn't it?

That's a great place to be - in between the battle

of the mushroom.

Having blanched and chilled his broccoli, Laszlo finishes

the florets over the barbecue.

Hey, Laszlo. Hello, Andi.

Let's talk about Sea 8; Farm.

Now, you got a five for this. Yes.

Which you weren't happy with, obviously. Not at all.

I'm assuming you've put that behind you.

Yeah, I did. I've got all the advices from Lisa on board,

so I'm going to be much more and stronger on flavours.

Flavours, flavours, flavours. So, how are you doing this

pushing of the flavour? Your broccoli. Obviously the broccoli

needed much more love. So I did blanch them and obviously

I seasoned the water really heavily.

And then the mushroom. Yeah.

I'm going to cook it all the way through in the pan.

Loads of vegan butter and loads of mushroom garum,

you know? It sounds like you're making excellent changes.

I can't wait to see the new version of Sea 8; Farm, my dear.

Good luck. Thank you so much.

Since this year's starters all need to be vegan, Laszlo

is trying his hand at the art of illusion

and preparing king oyster mushrooms to look like scallops

for his sea-themed dish.

I'd be quite intrigued to see how that kind of combination

of cabbage, sea herb, sea foam,

so that kind of earthy flavours you get from mushroom,

but with that kind of like salty, beautiful sea flavours coming in.

How they'll balance that will be quite a difficult thing

to put together. Miso, as well.

Miso is a big boy to add to the fight.

OK, lovely Laszlo, you have five minutes.

Yes, thank you.

First onto the plate is pickled Savoy cabbage.

Can you put three of these?

Yeah. Dot around? Yeah. Yeah.

Even spread. Thank you.

The torched broccoli is arranged.

And you're in your final two minutes.

Yep. Bang on time. Look at that.

The broccoli and miso puree is next.

And how's that foam? Got more body?

Yes, I did infuse with much more seaweeds,

so hopefully the judges are going to like the stronger flavour.

Looks greener this time. Yeah.

And finally, a garnish of salsify and sea herbs.

Looks good, eh? Yeah. Hopefully it tastes good, as well.

Lovely. Service, please.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

OK, we're starting.

Feels like it's in a rock pool, doesn't it? Yeah.

It smells great, as well. Looks gorgeous.

Sort of treated the king oyster like a scallop, by the looks of it. Yeah.

Oh, that's clever.

I'm struggling a bit with this dish. Yeah. Me, too.

I think it's a disjointed effort to bring sea

and farm together, sadly.

It's an ode, is it not, to the Astounding Broccoli Boy,

and it's not the most loving rendering of a piece of broccoli

that it could have been. It's not a great dish.

It's not in balance.

The sea foam is a nice idea, but it doesn't really taste

of the sea to me. It tastes a bit like wood.

It just feels a little bit like it's a load of ingredients

that have been left behind in a fridge, and someone's

just had a go at trying to create something exciting with it,

and it's just not hit the mark.

If you're going to do that, you're bringing it to the expert,

you want to really pull out all the stops if you're serving it to me.

So, how would you have clone this?

I would have put it in a blender.

Bubble and squeak!

GROANING

Next up, the fish course.

One down, it definitely feels good.

So, at the moment, I am on my veggie alternative,

so I'm roasting my hispi off and getting my sauce passed.

It's been infused with kombu, chardonnay vinegar, just to still

give you the fish elements without it there.

Ancl I'm just going to thicken that up and then get ready

on everything else.

Jane, do you have a favourite role that you've played within animation?

Well, I think Chicken Run is probably the most favourite.

I have had a FOWL period.

LAUGHTER

Oh, me life flashed before me eyes.

It was really boring.

Is that quite spooky, watching an animation back and seeing

your mouth move on a chicken's beak?

I'm used to it now.

It feels normal.

Danielle has moved on to her oyster emulsion.

Her dish is inspired by How Pippa Became the Queen of the Ocean -

a children's book made entirely out of recycled plastic.

Having seasoned the oysters with lemon and salt, she blends

and sieves them for a silky-smooth consistency.

Just like that, we're onto fish.

Yes. Quite extraordinary. How are you feeling?

Everything's moving very, very quickly.

Yeah. So fast in this kitchen.

Now, you got an eight for your fish dish. Yeah.

What was the advice that you got about this dish?

Lose the pomme puree altogether and just put more oyster emulsion.

I'm trying to get everything ready now so I can completely focus

on the plaice.

I absolutely love plaice. It's one of those great British fishes.

It tastes fantastic.

But the only problem with it is that if it's overcooked, it goes

quite cotton-woolly, like, quite quickly.

But cook it correctly, brilliant piece of fish.

It's very important to get this one right.

To ensure she serves a generous portion of plaice,

Danielle uses a protein gel to glue two fillets together.

She then wraps and places in the fridge to set.

She starts preparing her cucumber.

These were supposed to go on my fish course. I forgot them last time.

So this time I'm really going to make sure I remember them.

Danielle chops capers and prepares cavolo nero.

You have four minutes, Danielle. Yes, Chef.

With service approaching, she pan-fries her double fillets.

OK, I'm going to put the oyster on first, and then it's clone, so...

Three minutes, Danielle. Yes, Chef.

She dots oyster emulsion onto all of the fish dishes

except Tom's - which is shellfish-free.

You want me to foam the other one, as well? Yes, please.

It looks really good. I love the colours.

Nice and fresh. You have one minute, Danielle.

Yes, Andi.

Happy? Got everything? Yeah. Yeah?

This one's for Tom.

Yes. You ready? Yes, Chef.

Service, please.

Fish just as you wanted it? Yes, it was perfect.

Ooh. Message in a bottle.

Oh, is it? Oh. Wow.

Yes.

"I will miss the ocean.

"I will miss the fish, the whales and the waves.

"Now, this here could very well become a common thought

"as our oceans continue to drown in plastic."

It's so kind of light and refreshing, isn't it?

The little bits of cabbage, tiny bits of... As well as the hispi,

the different greens in it just look really...

Yeah. Yeah, inviting. Yeah.

In terms of flavour, it's fabulous.

But how beautifully cooked is that plaice?

And it's so moist and tender. And I'm sorry, I'm waxing lyrical.

No, but... Whoever's created this plate of food has such skill. Mm.

That's - as they would say in the North West -

a lovely bit of fish. Is it?

I'm not sure that's specific to the North West. It's the way I said it.

A lovely bit of fish? It's the way I said it.

That's just a sentence, really, isn't it?

Yeah. As they say in the North West - hello.

No, but it's a wonderful bit of cooking, and those flavours

that are with it, it's just very seaside-y.

It's clean, it's crisp.

My only negative is the fact that the reality of the story,

you know, we're sat here with the sea and the plastic

and it's very prominent.

Ancl it does make you question, it does make you think.

But the dish is a wonderful celebration.

I get what you're saying, but I just wonder how they could

have created that in a more aesthetically pleasing way.

It is thought-provoking but it ends on a positive

note, doesn't it? Yeah. Because it tastes as clean as we want

the sea to be.

For his fish course, Laszlo is serving fish fingers.

For the fingers, he makes a cod mousse by adding chopped chives

to cod fillets, egg white and double cream.

With the mousse steaming in the oven, he can turn his attention

to Jane's dish.

This is the vegetarian course.

It's truffle polenta.

So, this dish is called Not So Fish Pie,

and it's crumbled mushroom, truffle polenta,

artichoke crisp, smiley potato.

Inspired by children's poetry book Poetry Pie,

written and illustrated by Liverpool poet Roger McGough.

Love a bit of Roger McGough.

We've got a more fishy version over here.

We've got butter-poached halibut, cod fish finger, and then we've got

smiley potato, fish sauce with Exmoor caviar and mussels.

So, yeah, these are the smiley potatoes.

Lisa gave me a little extra tip how to make them crispy.

So, should be crispy, crispy, crispy outside,

and nice and fluffy inside.

Hello, Andi. How are you getting on, darling? Good.

Fish. Yes.

What was your score in the fish course?

I had a seven for it.

Pretty good. Yeah. What are you doing for Jane Horrocks,

our guest judge? Mushroom fingers.

Mushroom fingers. Yes. Nice.

Anything you're worried about?

You know, poaching fish in any liquid or butter. If the temperature

is not right... Yeah. ..you're out.

Yeah. And she's a really good fish cook.

Yes.

Thanks for the extra pressure. Silent assassin.

Good luck, sir. Thank you.

Now that his fish-finger filling is cooked, Laszlo coats

it with breadcrumbs in preparation for the fryer.

His mussels are steamed in a white-wine sauce.

Laszlo, you have six minutes to the pass. Yep.

Halibut poached in seaweed butter is first onto his pie dish plates.

How are those fingers?

Nice and crispy.

Fish looks good.

Is that enough truffle for you, Chef?

More, more, more, more.

Two minutes to go, Chef. Yeah.

Iced chicory leaves add texture and colour

to Jane's vegetarian dish.

Oh, the chicory looks lovely.

What a beautiful colour.

A garnish of dill finishes it off.

Are you happy? Happy. Service, please.

Fish, done.

Yahoo.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

OK, are we pouring? Are you pouring it over everything?

Sorry, I've eaten a potato smile already because who can resist that?

Mmm.

There's so many components here that I love.

I like the polenta.

We have crumbled mushroom, which is really a bit too salty.

Hmm.

I have to say, I've got these cod fish fingers that I think

are a little bit over-salted, as well. Mm.

I love the cod fish finger. I think the cod fish finger...

That's a real highlight for me. Yeah. just not what you expect from

a fish finger, but it's also

everything you want from a fish finger.

What's so different about it? Well, is it like a sort of mousse?

It's been made into a mousse with the flavour, you've got lemon

and herbs through it, and it's just like a lovely fish dish

that's been blended into one, and then shaped and deep-fried.

I think it's delicious.

The vegetarian version is not as appealing.

I get the sense that yours is a lot more tasty than this is.

I think it's so much fun, this dish.

Ancl I think it does sort of capture something that Roger McGough puts

into his poetry.

It's homely, it's warming.

It feels like you're sat around the kitchen table and you're a child.

In terms of a bit of cookery, I think it's very good.

Best fish finger I've ever had.

Slap ten. Give it five.

Give as many as you like. You're doing brilliantly well,

both of you. Great energy in here.

I love the way you're supporting each other.

Halfway mark.

Main courses. Yes. Yep. Let's go.

After three courses it feels pretty even to me,

but I'm going to see if I can get

any insight from the judging chamber.

Hello, my loves. Hello. Hey, mate. How are we doing?

Very well. How's it all going in here? Nisha, how's it going?

A couple of really good dishes. For instance, the plaice.

You know, there was not an element on that plate that was overlooked

or skimped on in terms of imagination and flavour.

Brilliant, brilliant cookery. Absolutely.

What do you think about the connections to the brief?

How's that working out for you?

Well, the link to the brief is occasionally gentle.

A bit overly gentle. Overly gentle, I'd say.

But the cooking's been pretty strong this morning, I think.

Pretty strong. They've been cooking special dishes

for you, of course, because you're a vegetarian. How is that working out?

In some dishes, it's really worked well. And I think, in others,

I feel like I've missed out.

There have been a couple of very, very strong dishes that have come

through that are very, very good. Some tweaks maybe and they...

You know, you could be looking at them in finals week

that are pushing into the top three, maybe even banquet-worthy dishes.

So, you know, I don't think any of the dishes

are just quite there yet.

They're not nines and tens for me. Getting up there?

But they're very, very good.

Well, we're halfway, people.

I'm going to go back and tend to my lovely chefs and see

how they're getting on because we've got the big one coming up,

obviously. The main.

See you later. Bye, Andi. Thank you.

Everything you're saying sounds sarky, I don't know why.

Bye, Andi.

LAUGHTER

That's on. That's on. That's on.

For her main course,

Danielle is trimming baby leeks and poaching chicken

for her Chinese dish...

...while Laszlo gets to work filleting loins for his lamb cannon,

and slicing red rooster potatoes for his dauphinoise.

Hello. Hello.

How are you doing, guyS? Busy, busy. Busy, bUSY-

Gosh, well, I don't think I've seen either of you move

quite this quickly throughout the whole week.

I will leave you to get on with it, but make sure that in your haste

to get everything done, you don't miss out the important

facets and the detail on your dishes.

I wish you both loads of luck, all right? Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, 9W5-

Uh, Laszlo, your pan. Cheers.

Laszlo saves his lamb shoulder pieces just in time,

before braising in red wine with carrots, celery,

Spanish onion, rosemary and thyme.

First main course is jack &jilt's Dinner,

and it's a herb-crusted lamb cannon,

dauphinoise potato, braised lamb shoulder pot,

with lovage espuma, and lambjus.

Ancl it's inspired by a 1957 issue

of the comic jack and Jill of Buttercup Farm

by Manchester-born Hugh McNeilL

They're so charming, aren't they? Beautiful.

Do you think lovage espuma was around in the time of jack and Jill?

What is espuma?

It's a Spanish word for foam, basically.

What have you got?

Savoy cabbage stuffed with black risotto and sauerkraut.

Would you normally eat this much cabbage in a clay?

There seems to be a rather a lot of cabbage, doesn't there, going on?

Let's hope it doesn't have an effect.

LAUGHTER

With the lamb in hand, Laszlo turns his attention to his creamy

dauphinoise potatoes.

Got a bit less time on my hands than the first time,

so I really need to focus on everything.

Got the lamb brining, the shoulder pot is on,

the dauphinoise in the oven, so those are the tricky things.

Doing a dish which requires 1 hour 45

in 1 hour 15.

That's a bit tricky.

It sounds classic.

Cannon of lamb, dauphinoise potatoes, lamb fat carrot,

heritage pickled carrot, braised shoulder.

It feels quite rustic, farmland-like, doesn't it?

Hey, Laszlo. Hello.

So, you got a seven for this dish, jack &jilt's Dinner? Yeah.

What were Lisa's notes for you?

Obviously bigger on flavour.

Your dauphinoise, they need to be creamier.

Yeah, that's already in process.

Actually, they need to come out of the oven.

Your seasoning on the lamb fat carrot.

Yeah, again, like, a lot more salt than before.

And then your little pots, lovely lamb shoulder. Yeah.

The potatoes are going to be thicker,

and then the actual braised Lamb's going to be richer.

Wonderful. It sounds great.

I'm going to let you get on with it, cos I know you've got so much to do.

Thank you, Andi. Thank you so much.

Laszlo is up first.

I have not seen him move this fast all week.

There's a bit of detail he's got to work on.

If he gets it right, he could very well up his score.

For Jane's vegetarian version,

Laszlo is stuffing cabbage leaves with black rice,

risotto and sauerkraut.

All right, Laszlo. You have five minutes, love.

Yes.

Danielle lends a hand, adding the braised lamb

to his lamb fat carrots.

Is this enough for you? Oh, yeah, well enough. Well enough. Yeah.

Do it with five. If it needs one more, do one more.

She dresses them with his pickled heritage carrots, while Laszlo adds

the herb crust to his lamb cannon.

Four minutes, my love.

Yeah.

Patch. Yeah. Patch is back.

Yep.

All right, so this will be the vegetarian person, yeah?

OK.

Service, please.

Ooh.

What's the verdict on the dauphinoise?

It's oversalted. Yes, it is. It's such a shame!

I know. It's such a shame. It's as salty as the sea.

Also, it doesn't have all of my favourite things about dauphinoise,

which is the sort of creaminess and richness to it.

It just seems a little bit sparse on all of that.

I really like the lovage espuma,

cos it's quite her by and light.

I think that's what I didn't want - for it to be overpowering -

because there's a lot of depth of flavour in this.

I do love the flavour of lovage and that's a beautiful way

of getting it on there.

The lamb itself is pretty good.

It's not great.

Ancl then the sad thing is the dauphinoise is too salty.

What did you think of yours?

I wouldn't be jumping up and down if I'd got that as a main course

in a restaurant.

There's something that's just a bit underwhelming about it.

It feels like you're kind of like farmyard-esque

but, actually, the execution, the technique of the cooking,

is not on point for this.

My throat is tingling with salt now.

This is the main, potentially, for the banquet.

You know, it needs that spectacle.

And I just don't think a plastic jack Russell does spectacle make,

in a way. That's the thing.

You always say that, don't you?

That's something they say up north.

Yeah. That's another thing we say up north!

Apart from "hello". Yeah.

Danielle's next.

Her chicken is now poached and cooling...

...but she's feeling the heat.

Can you get a mop, please?

Everything is probably my worry at the moment.

Timing, getting everything clone on time.

My noodle sauce - still cooking.

One with chicken stock, one for the vegetarian we have.

Ancl then I'm getting on with my sauce for my chicken,

all the vegetables, all sorts of stuff.

This is Paddington's First Chinese New Year.

It's steamed chicken with gold bar spring rolls, home-made noodles

with chilli and peanut sauce.

Ancl it's inspired by the animated series of Paddington,

and Paddington holds a surprise Chinese New Year party for

Ms Potts, who is missing her home.

A family feast!

WOW!

My way of saying thank you to you all.

Especially you, Paddington.

Thank you, Ms Potts.

Now the chickens are down to the right temperature,

Danielle is jointing them.

She reserves the breasts for later and turns her attention

to her spring rolls.

I'm definitely going to need an extra five.

For the filling, Danielle marinates her chicken leg meat

in Shaoxing wine, soy sauce and sesame oil.

On Lisa's advice, I'm making them bigger.

Hey, Danielle. Hello. Busy, busy, busy.

So, you got a seven for this dish. Yes.

What was Lisa's feedback for you?

Basically, I needed to amp up all the flavours, so I've really clone

that with all the vegetables.

Ancl also the fridge-cold chicken was the major one. Yes.

And what are you making for our guest judge? What's the vegetarian?

So, I'm doing a whole compressed king oyster mushroom.

Oh, lovely. When it's cooked, it's similar to chicken, as well.

And then she'll have all the same sauces and everything? Yeah. OK.

I hope you do well. Thank you.

What is it, then, about your voice

that lends itself so well to animation?

I think cos it's quite up and down, isn't it? Yeah.

Yeah, there's kind of like lots of sort of syllables in one word.

So, it's... Yeah, it's sort of all over the place.

Are you directed when you do it, or do you have the script

and you put your own personality to it? Yeah.

You are directed. Yeah. Yeah, very much.

I mean, it was funny with the Tim Burton film Corpse Bride

because I'd done my main character, which was a spider,

and then I played a chef and then they said,

"Oh, we'd really like you to do a voice of the ant."

And so they said, "We'll show you a clip of it."

And I can't see an ant anywhere!

I said, "I'm sorry if I'm being really stupid,

"but where is the ant?"

And they went, "Next to the uncle?"

LAUGHTER

With the help of the pasta machine, Danielle creates fine noodles.

How are you doing, Danielle? How are you getting on?

I'm all right.

Guess you're going to need a bit of help for plating? Yeah, please.

If you can do the leeks first, and then I'll flash them.

Laszlo torches the leeks to give them a nice char, while Danielle

fries the king oyster mushrooms for Jane's vegetarian dish.

You have four minutes to the pass, Danielle.

Yes, Chef.

If you just want to place all the maitakes like that, please.

Yeah, put it on.

How are your noodles? Doing what they need to?

Yes. Spring rolls crispy? Yes.

We have one explosion, but I have an extra, so...

OK.

She adds the noodles to her sesame and peanut sauce,

while Laszlo decants the spring onion and ginger dipping sauce.

You are due on the pass now, Danielle.

Yes, Andi.

Oh.

SH E EXHALES

Are you ready, Chef? Yes.

Are you happy? As happy as I'll ever be.

Let's send it. Service, please.

Thank you very much. Can you manage?

Ooh, wow, thank you.

Well, let's do a bit of serving.

Brilliant. Thank you. Young Ed.

A bit of that. There you go. I'm going to just pinch a bit of that.

Every element tastes different.

It's absolutely buzzing with flavour, isn't it? Everything. Mm.

Look at that mushroom!

I know. I've got one. That's a beckoning mushroom.

Have you got the same?

I have got the beckoning mushroom. The veggie option for this

is not a disappointment. It's really fantastic.

Oh, good. Really good.

Ancl these beautiful noodles. Yeah, they're gorgeous.

The home-made noodles with the sesame is just absolutely fantastic.

And these little leeks are lovely, aren't they?

I honestly do not want this to end.

Yeah. Great.

But this poached, steamed chicken is such a brave thing to cook

cos it's cooked just the other side of pink,

which makes it so tender.

Tender like no other chicken.

I almost think you don't need the spring roll.

It's very nice, but it feels like an extra element

that you don't necessarily need. Like the spring roll in this

red sauce here... Yeah, I'm not keen on the red sauce.

No, me neither. A bit too sweet. I think the red sauce is great.

I love the plum sauce. I don't like it. I love the plum sauce.

I love the spring roll. I think it's great.

Every little element works.

I just think it's magic.

We're all used to Chinese takeaway food that you might have

every other weekend on a Saturday night in front of the telly

that just feels the same.

Then when it's something like this, when it's clone beautifully

and it's clone well, and every ingredient is cared for and loved

by a chef with technique and heart and soul,

and it's a great bit of cookery.

I only question the cold chicken breast as the main course

of a banquet. But I think the majority of people,

when they work out it's supposed to be cold, will absolutely love

it and it'll be a very different experience for a lot of people.

Yeah. I love that. That's a good 'un.

Yeah, it was very good. A treat.

That's a good 'un. Very, very good.

What are we up at? 20 past?

So we've got six minutes. Yeah? Six minutes, yeah. Right.

All right.

With the clock ticking, the chefs are prepping pre-desserts.

Danielle is preparing cucumber for a goat's yoghurt mousse called

Sophie's Snozzcumber Stew,

inspired by the animated film version of The BFG.

Laszlo will be serving ice lollies made from blue Curacao -

a coloured liqueur that gets its flavour from Laraha citrus fruit,

grown on the island of Curacao.

Danielle is using liquid nitrogen to make her herb snow,

which she's elevated following Lisa's feedback.

So, the changes I'm making - I'm adding a bit more wood sorrel

to the top, just for a little bit of extra acidity,

and a couple of finger lime pearls inside the granita, as well.

Just make it that much more light and refreshing.

Beautiful, chefs. How is it looking?

Good. Good? For pre-dessert, yep.

Good, Laszlo? My one's fine.

I just need the granita really cold.

Are you saying you're going to be early with your pre-desserts?

No, no.

Did you say no? No, no.

It's a wise answer, Danielle. Yeah.

Laszlo's pre-dessert is inspired by the Watchmen graphic novel

and its colouristjohn Higgins from Liverpool.

Veteran Lisa said these lollies were too bitter.

Made any changes to that lolly?

No.

They are blue.

They are bitter. No.

All right, Laszlo.

Danielle plates her goat's yoghurt mousse...

...adds the cucumber, and tops with a drift of herb snow.

Yes. All right, guys. Yep.

Service, please. Yes. Service.

Thank you. So, we've got Sophie's Snozzcumber Stew.

This looks lovely.

Mm.

I love that use of cucumber in desserts.

I think it's fantastic.

Clean, fresh. Light.

It's so light I'm wanting a bit more of the lime.

I'm not getting much finger lime. Is anyone getting much lime?

No, actually. I just got a big piece, just as you said,

so I think... You're very lucky. Perhaps you need a little bit more.

Not quite sweet enough for me, almost.

It's a little bit too sort of herbal and floral.

And then we've got Dr Manhattan.

I'm a huge fan of the Watchmen comic books.

I'm not sure that this presentation quite sums up the huge

ambition and grandeur.

NISHA LAUGHS

I love the texture of that lolly, actually. Wow.

It's strong. Mm.

Again, there's not a lot of sweet in there.

It's bitter. It's bitter, yeah.

It's like a serious cocktail-maker's cocktail, that. Mm.

That's SO not for me.

I like the other, though. I loved that.

I loved the other one. Yeah, I loved that one.

Takes you from savoury into sweet,

it's not just hit with the sweet - whereas this one is...

Yeah. HE WHISTLES

Very aggressive, isn't it? Very gruff.

It is very aggressive! Yeah.

So, are we holding up our favourite?

Deffo. Yeah. It's pretty clear, isn't it?

Pre-desserts gone.

One more left! Thank God.

Naturally, the last course is desserts.

Both are making sponge cakes.

Condensed milk sponge for Danielle,

whilst Laszlo is making pionono -

a Peruvian rolled sponge with pastry cream filling.

I hope that professional pastry chefs don't watch this part.

So, this is the first dessert.

It's The Battered Suitcase.

It's a Peruvian dark chocolate cremeux,

pionono, marmalade ice cream.

The dish is inspired by Paddington arriving to the UK from Peru.

This is simple, and it could be fantastic, couldn't it?

This is the pastry cream for the pionono.

So, the feedback was the ratio of the cream and sponge

wasn't right, and the cream was a bit runny.

To thicken things up, Laszlo is adding cornflour.

HE EXHALES

Guns of steel.

It's going to be all down to the pastry cream.

If it's set, it's good. If not, I'm in trouble.

He spreads the now rum-infused pastry cream onto his sponge.

Then he chills the whole thing and hopes for the best.

Ooh. I spy m6"9°-

Yes. So, what was the feedback you got from Lisa on this dish?

Lisa requested a little extra something on

the actual suitcase. Luggage tag. Which I have it.

So, you got an eight. Would you like a big fat ten?

Oh, I'd love to have a big fat ten. That would be nice, wouldn't it?

All right, Laszlo. I wish you loads of luck.

May the road rise with you, sir. Thank you.

He bakes petal-shaped chocolate tuiles. Oven.

And it's the moment of truth for his pionono.

He needs the pastry cream to firm up to avoid previous pitfalls.

You have four minutes to the pass, my love. Yeah.

I'm going to need, like, an extra minute.

It didn't really set, to be fair.

I think I didn't have enough time for it. No.

If that went back in the blast chiller,

how long would it take to set up?

We're talking half an hour or an hour? Yeah, yeah.

Oh, right. It's not like an extra minute. Yeah. Yeah.

I know what you mean.

Having a bit of a nightmare over there?

He's trying to get the clingfilm. Yeah.

Keeping his cool, Laszlo pipes marmalade ice cream

into serving jars, and tops with yet more marmalade.

He adds mango salsa to his Paddington suitcases...

...followed by his pionono cake,

which he torches, and arranges the tuile petals around.

Let's go. There's a second one. Yeah.

Service, please. That's the vegetarian.

I like the little tag.

Ooh, thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Aw.

This marmalade ice cream is so good.

I love that we've got a spicy mango salsa...

I know! ..on a dessert. Yeah.

And that pionono, that kind of cake that's got that oozy centre.

It's lovely. It's just the right amount of sweet,

the right amount of ooze and creaminess.

I think the ice cream is a bit grainy for me.

It tastes a bit like shop-bought marmalade that's then been blended

into an ice cream, rather than a marmalade that's

been made. The salsa,

I like the nod - that it's a nod to Peru, that Peruvian kind

of flavours, but I don't think

it sits on the dessert very well.

The cake, the pionono, is lovely, actually.

That's something that's quite new and delicious

that I've not come across before.

I think if you put the salsa with the ice cream, that's nice.

Yeah. Mm. It's lots of really lovely little bits.

Is it the spectacle that we want for the dessert, for the banquet?

I'm not sure. There's some nice elements,

but if Paddington turned up with this...he's not living at my house.

TIMER RINGS

Sorry. That's all right.

Danielle is preparing the last dish of the day -

poaching pears for her construction-themed dessert.

It has not gone pear-shaped whatsoever.

Builder's Tea & Cake - condensed milk sponge,

poached pears in verjus,

and builder's tea ice cream.

A dish inspired by Bob the Builder, which was made in Manchester.

Danielle. Hello.

Last dish. Oh, finally.

So, you got an eight for your dessert.

Are you making any changes?

Lisa did suggest for me to lose pears altogether and go to apples.

I've gone for a much firmer pear, and hopefully a bit more flavour.

Ancl I've switched out the honey gel for a pear gel.

So, to bring more... To push the pear flavour.

And the lovely cremeux in the middle. Yeah.

That was a little thin.

So the whole idea was that it was supposed to be more liquid,

so I've changed it to more of a custard recipe,

but still it's supposed to kind of bring the milk element

to your... Right, for the tea.

Builder's tea ice cream.

That sounds like it's going to be great, doesn't it?

Then also the use of Earl Grey, which is much more fragrant,

much more lighter.

But would Bob drink Earl Grey? Probably not.

He'd have to "BUILD '|S" tea ice cream, wouldn't he?

Danielle's strains her Earl Grey custard to remove any lumps.

As that cools, she checks on her tea-infused ice cream...

...before glazing her cakes and chopping the pears,

ready for plating.

They've chilled down just in time.

They're a lot firmer today than yesterday's.

Five minutes, Danielle. Yes, Andi.

How's the ice cream?

Looks good.

To construct the building site dessert,

Danielle adds her custard foundations,

lays poached pears in place,

topping it off with salted caramel and a pear gel.

Oh, here they are.

I'm so sorry.

ANDI LAUGHS

Four minutes, Danielle. You look like you're going to be early.

Yes, if that's OK.

What a way to end the service.

Happy? Yes.

Service, please.

# Bob the builder

# Can we fix it?

# Bob the builder

# Yes, we can!

# Scoop, Muck and Dizzy, and Roley too

# Lofty and Wendy join the crew... #

Thank you.

# Bob and the gang have so much fun... # Lovely!

I love that this is on a pallet - look at the little lollipop stick

pallet that it's on.

I really like this builder's tea.

That's clever. We've never had anything like that before.

And you can taste the tannins and the sharpness and all of that.

It really does taste like builder's tea.

But it's quite grainy. Texturally,

it's not a smooth, wonderfully whipped-through ice cream.

That's got the potential to be something magic,

but it's not quite there.

Ancl I think the Earl Grey custard, for me, that's the most

disappointing part cos it's quite watery.

There's a really good basis for it to be a very good dessert.

I think there's just a couple of things that are slightly off.

Although the proportions are well out.

I know builders like their tea, but that's ridiculous.

How are you feeling?

Tired. A little nap?

Yeah, that would be lovely.

Both chefs have put their all into their menus, but only one

of them can go through to the finals and have a shot at cooking

at the banquet.

Welcome, chefs. How are you both?

Good. Nervous. Yeah. Nervous? Tired. Tired. Yeah.

Listen, we've had a great day in here.

I mean, two very distinct, two very soulful menus

that have come through. So, on that, I'd like to know who cooked

Paddington's First Chinese New Year.

Me. That was you. OK.

That, for me, was an outstanding dish.

Incredibly brave.

Really different.

You know, all of those amazing little supporting acts

that helped that one main course.

I thought it was a great, great dish.

Well done, chef. Thank you.

Who cooked Not So Fish Pie? Me.

I loved so many elements on that dish. To have something

as classic and as delicious

as that sauce, but with the fun of a potato smiley.

And, frankly, I think the best fish finger I've ever had.

Thank you. Well done.

OK, so we didn't know who cooked which dish,

so we've given our scores to Andi to add up.

So the winner of the North West, going through to cook

at the national finals...

...is...

...Danielle.

Holy moley. Congratulations, honestly.

Thank you for all your help. You deserve it.

Congratulations, Danielle.

For me, that main course is a real contender to go to the banquet.

I thought it was outstanding.

Thank you very much.

Ancl I loved the veggie version of Saving The Oceans.

I loved the presentation of it.

It was very imaginative.

And, Laszlo, for the first time you've been on

the Great British Menu

and you came straight through to the judges' chamber -

this is the beginning of great, great things for you.

Thank you. Yeah, I'll just second that.

Congratulations.

Jane, thank you so much for coming.

It's been an hon our to have you in the chamber, and such

a pleasure to meet you. And we'd love to have you at the banquet.

I hope you'll make it. That would be an hon our.

It would be wonderful to have you.

We'd really, really love to have you there.

Thank you to both of you, chefs.

Please go take a well-deserved rest.

Yes. Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you for having us.

Thank you for having us. Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm blown away.

It was tough. It was nerve-racking.

It was really hard. But I enjoyed every single moment of it.

I've got a lot more work to do, that's for sure.

But it feels amazing.

It really, really does.

I can't wait to tell my mum.

For me, there was the one outstanding dish

that really is a contender for banquet-worthy

and that is that main course.

While both chefs achieved similar scores for their desserts,

for the fish, starters and main courses, Danielle pulled

ahead of Laszlo on the judges' scorecards.

I think for Laszlo's point of view, I think he had a couple

of good ones in it. The moment you get on that roller-coaster

and you're against someone who's just doing that, I think

you just fall behind a bit.

But hopefully he'll learn from his week here.

I think he will. I'm sure he'll be back and do really well.

He's definitely one that should be coming back.

Yes, please. Wahey!

Hey! Congratulations.

Thank you so much. You deserve it.

Thank you so much for all your help.

It was a pleasure to cook with you, Chef. Same.

Thank you for everything. Yeah. Good luck, and make the North West proud.

Ru try.