Original subtitles

This year on Great British Menu...

Hot stuff coming through.

...the creme de la creme of the UK 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 they must represent the theme, too.

A roster of revered Great British Menu winners...

Snakes. Ah, snakes?

...and the return of 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.

Exciting!

This time, it's Northern Ireland's turn to draw on their nation's pool

of culinary expertise and see who comes out on top.

You're four minutes away from telling me why

this is the best thing I've ever ate in my life.

Yesterday, there were some ups...

Whoo!

...and downs. They've broken.

Have you got enough that you could do it again?

Yeah, but I don't have time.

Losing out narrowly...

Oh, bring it in.

...Matt left the competition.

I think I'll definitely be back.

I have to set the record straight.

Three talented chefs remain.

Returner Gemma Austin...

Definitely feeling the pressure.

It's absolutely no excuse to take a foot off the gas.

...and newcomers Kerry Roper...

I want to be up to the pass in good time. I want to feel good

about what I put up.

...and john Hollywood.

I can't really see anything going too wrong here.

Quietly confident, let's say.

With more drama ahead...

just having a couple of pie problems here.

...the chefs know they have to up their game...

I just don't think it works.

...as another chef will be leaving today.

Every time I look up at that clock, it's like 15 minutes, bang,

15 minutes, bang. Mad, isn't it?

The three remaining chefs for Northern Ireland must now compete

over mains and desserts.

Gemma is out in the lead on 14 points.

John is on ten points and Kerry is on nine.

They need to stay focused.

They need to stay on track.

And we'll see who comes out on top.

Well, guys, the main, the big one.

Yeah. Hopefully, we can smash it.

Let's go. Let's go.

The veteran chef they have to impress is Michelin-starred

Aktar Islam, who wants them to concentrate on ensuring their story

punches through on the plate.

This is the chefs' opportunity to really impress me.

I want to be blown away by bold flavours, excellent cooking,

incredible storytelling,

because I want to be handing out those high scores.

Leading the charge is Gemma.

She's drawing upon an animated series of traditional fables.

So my dish is called The Moral Of The Story.

The inspiration behind that is Seamus Heaney's

translation of the Five Fables.

Each of the five fables lists one very important ingredient,

and I've used all five of those ingredients. Wow.

So the main five elements will be the venison pie, cheese,

apple and berries and the chestnuts.

So, six.

Why do five when you can do six? Give it time, I might add a seventh!

Oh, stop!

My main element is venison loin.

I'm just going to pan sear that. I've made a bacon stock,

and I'm going to use that to make my chestnut puree.

So that's my nut element.

My berry element is obviously the blackberries.

So I'm going to do that as a puree and a pickle.

Then I'm going to do pies. You know how happy I get with pie on the side. Yeah.

So... Ancl what pastry are you going for?

I'm going for a shortcrust, and inside that,

I'm using the Jerusalem artichokes.

I'm basically going to mandolin them and make it almost into a dauphinois

at the bottom. Yeah? OK.

Then I'm going to finish that with this amazing Young Buck blue cheese.

Gemma, we wish you loads of luck.

Fingers crossed. Thank you. Thank you.

Good luck, Gemma. Thank you, Chef.

Sitting four points behind is john, who is keen to rescue the situation

with his main course that's inspired by the children's animated TV series

made in Northern Ireland, Lifeboat Luke.

So tell us the name of your dish, please, john.

It's called The Cow, The Sea Ancl The Lifeboat.

So tell us what's going to be on the plate.

So, basically, you're going to have this amazing

Ballyboley Dexter beef fillet that's going to represent the boat

that we have. The potatoes, I'm going to boil them,

going to cross them, then give them a good fry.

So it's going to be almost like the cracked rocks of the shore.

The carrot puree is going to symbolise

the colour of the lifeboat.

Ancl then yourjus in the middle,

that's going to represent the sea. Beef and apple -

that's an interesting combination.

Well, I feel like I needed a bit of acidity there.

So these apples here are actually going to represent the life buoy.

So I'm going to brulee them and caramelise it on the top.

So it's almost going to look like those rings have been sitting out in the sea.

What's your main concern?

Main concern is you're going to sting me for brief again. Right.

Is it there? Because you're great verbally, but when you're not

there and the dish is in front of us, the story does get a bit lost.

Yeah. We wish you loads of luck. I hope it works out for you.

Cheers. Thanks, guys. Good luck, mate.

Finally, Kerry is hoping to impress today.

She's also using beef, but focusing on the lesser loved offal.

Her main course is a nod to a much-loved 1970s

children's TV series.

The title of the dish is Madame Cholet's Pie.

Ancl the inspiration behind it is The Wombles.

Madame Cholet was the chef for the Wombles.

Oh, we love the Wombles. They were eco warriors.

So is that what you're plugging into with this dish? Yeah.

Things that the everyday folk leave behind.

# Things that the everyday folk leave behind...#

Sorry, I can't help it. Yeah.

So, tongue? It's something that...

It's very under-utilised.

Cheek and that's tendon.

Tell me how it's all going to tie together.

So I'm making a pie. Yeah. Tongue-in-cheek pie.

The tendon is going to be used in a crumb. OK.

Which will go as an accompaniment with my hispi cabbage.

Cabbage was inspired by Madame Cholet.

Cholet's, like, derived from the Latin

and French for cabbage.

Obviously, timing was a little bit of an issue for you with the starter

and the fish.

You've got loads of processes with long cooking in there.

Is that something that's going to be an issue for you today?

I hope not. Good luck, my love.

Good luck. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Absolutely buzzing, purifier under my belly here, like.

John chops his shallots, carrots and celery, which he then sweats

to form the base of his jus.

He fillets the beef and roasts alongside the trim and bones.

He may sting me a bit for brief,

but he's not going to sting me for flavour.

John's dish, The Cow, The Sea And The Lifeboat.

I'm not really sold on a beef fillet lifeboat.

I didn't really understand that part at all.

It seems as though he's really stretching it already.

So I just hope that's one incredible plate of food... Yes.

...where, you know, I even forget about the story. Yeah.

He's boiling carrots for his puree and also some potatoes,

which he'll deep fry later.

I'm definitely looking for a high score in this, hopefully my scores

just keep going UP-

Maybe a seven today, hope I finish on a ten,

you never know.

To learn more about the inspiration behind the animation

Lifeboat Luke, john went to the RN Ll at Donaghadee as they helped

with the making of the series, and met Philip McNamara.

So the reason that I'm here, because for my main course,

I'm going to do Lifeboat Luke.

It's been a wonderful wee thing for us to be involved in.

Ancl it was great to see it shown on television.

We've a fabulous volunteer crew here at Donaghadee.

Ancl they get to put this gear, this fabulous gear on.

It keeps them warm, keeps them dry in all weathers,

particularly very bad weather.

Would you like to try it, for a bit of fun?

Oh, definitely, yeah. Let's get it on. Let's do it.

The lifeboat crew get changed in a lightning 60 seconds

when called to a rescue.

Obviously, those guys do it a lot quicker than I'm doing right now.

Yeah, I suppose we have a wee bit more experience than you.

So john's got some practising to do.

Pull it on up.

The boat's on call 24/7.

But john, from the harbour, can see immediately its link

to his inspiration.

Oh, wow, man, it really does look like Lifeboat Luke.

That's mental.

I really can't wait to do this dish now.

Hopefully, I'll do it justice on the plate and on the clay.

I love what you guys do and keep it up.

Thanks very much, John, all the best.

Back in the kitchen, Gemma is getting her pastry done first.

I wanted to get it clone early before it gets any warmer.

She rolls it out and lines the tins before chilling.

I am quite worried about this one

just because there's so much going on.

She's also frying onion and venison for her sauce.

It's Gemma's third time in the competition,

and she's hungry for success.

This is my last attempt at this, really.

If I don't do it now and don't push myself to the absolute most,

I'm going to regret it.

So go hard or go home.

She then heats cream and milk for her Jerusalem artichoke gratin,

part of her pie filling.

Moral Of The Story from Gemma.

I love the sound of this.

Loads of textures, loads of flavours.

But in that comes the jeopardy.

I mean, there's a lot to do.

Ancl it's something that Gemma has had some problems with.

Is it nutritious and delicious? Yes.

We go.

From the start of the experience,

obviously, timing was an issue. So I'm just trying my best now today

to make sure that that isn't an issue.

I want to be up to the pass in good time.

I want to feel good about what I put up.

To that end, Kerry sears the beef cheeks for her pie,

and into the pressure cooker they go.

They need to go in the pie.

Pie takes an hour in the oven.

So the pressure is on.

She boils the celeriac that will form the base of her pie

while keeping a close eye on her pastry as she doesn't want

a repeat of yesterday's tart case traumas.

My tart pastry is too short.

It hasn't worked for me. It's crumbled.

I'm just going to finish this by hand.

I don't want to overwork it. Ancl I'm going to get it chilling

as quickly as possible.

This pastry, I'm much more comfortable with working with.

So fingers crossed it all goes well for me today.

Kerry's dish, Madame Cholet's Pie. I'm smiling already.

It sounds simplistic, but there's a lot of... A lot of work. ..work.

Ancl then the cuts she's chosen, these take a lot of time to cook.

Ancl she was 15 minutes late for her starter. Yes.

So I hope we don't find ourselves in that same situation.

I mean, she's struggled with pastry.

It's an important part of the pie for me.

It needs to be short, needs to be golden, needs to be crisp,

it needs to be beautiful.

Gemma is blitzing pureed blackberries with lemon juice.

Gemma?

This is the blackberry puree here.

So we have the pureed blackberries in there, I've got some lemon,

wee bit of balsamic vinegar

and I have a wee tiny touch of malic acid on it.

Malic acid. What's it doing in there?

It's just to give it a wee, like, lift at the end.

She said she didn't want it to be just pureed blackberries.

My concern is, it's way too acidic.

As it stands, I found it too sharp.

Kerry carves cooked tongue, ready for her pie.

I'm happy with the texture, the way it's came out.

Just need to get it

looking good for inside the pie.

So have you cooked your tongue?

Well, obviously, because of the cut of beef that it is,

I've been allowed to brine it for three clays.

Then I cooked it at 64 for 12 hours.

So it's just come out, I think, ready to go, just needs to be added

to the rest of the pie ingredients now.

I'm looking forward to it. Brilliant, thanks.

I'm really concerned about this tongue being in the water bath

at 64 degrees for 12 hours.

I just don't think 12 hours at the temperature that she's cooked it

at is enough to actually break that muscle down.

John has cut apple in the shape of the Giant's Causeway.

Everyone seems very focused today.

Pure silence.

He puts them in the water bath, then squashes his boiled potatoes

in the hope that when he fries them later, they will resemble battered

rocks on the beach.

Is this the dish you're probably one of the most confident on?

Yeah, but obviously that brief is really important, like,

and I just really hope I can get it through and they get it, like.

Gemma's dish centres around five ingredients from Seamus Heaney's

translation of five Aesop's fables.

The first is blackberries in a puree, her second, pies,

which contains the third, cheese.

The fourth is chestnuts, also in a puree, and her fifth,

apple fondant, which are ready to be cooked.

Onto the bonus sixth ingredient, venison, which she seasons

and sears before roasting.

Next.

There's a museum dedicated to Gemma's inspiration, playwright

and poet Seamus Heaney, in County Derry, where Gemma met

manager Brian McCormick.

This is a timeline that takes you from his birth in 1939,

right to his first transatlantic flight.

So... Did he write at this? He didn't.

This is a replica desk.

However, that is his actual schoolbag.

The schoolbatg. And you'll see in the top right down corner,

he's inscribed his initials on it as well.

My main course is based on Seamus Heaney's Five Fables.

In each one of the fables, an ingredient is mentioned,

and I'm going to use those five ingredients in the one dish,

so hopefully I'll be able to do Seamus Heaney proud.

I'm absolutely delighted that you have...

...that you have connected with it in this way.

Thank you very much.

Every time I look up at that clock, it's like 15 minutes, bang,

15 minutes, bang. Mad, isn't it?

John is pureeing his carrots and adds miso and seasoning.

So glad I got more carrots.

That's your puree done now, yeah? Yeah, yeah. All right.

Seasoned, all good to go, yeah?

Yeah, I would say so.

A bit more salt there, but...

Yeah, it's almost there.

Just remember the most important thing here, you really need

to up your game when it comes to the story

that you're trying to tell. Yes, Chef.

I think the flavour of the carrot's not really coming through.

I find it overly seasoned.

I think the miso is a bit too strong.

I don't know how it's going to work for him.

John sears his seasoned beef fillet in foaming butter,

rosemary and garlic, and then crisps up

his battered potatoes.

Meanwhile, Gemma is having problems with her chestnut puree.

I'm not delighted with the chestnut puree, the flavour of it.

I'm not going to be able to make it right, so I'd rather leave it off

than put it on wrong.

It's an understandable decision,

but will it weaken her link to the brief?

Whereas Kerry is getting on better.

I'm happy with the pastry, so fingers crossed.

If I work fast enough to get it in, it'll come out beautifully.

She assembles the pie, starting with spinach, cooked celeriac

and tongue, brushes it with a beef sauce, then adds the beef cheeks,

a final layer of spinach and bakes.

With five minutes to go,

john grates dried beef heart into his jus.

It takes about three weeks to make,

so I'm really chuffed that I was able to bring it along.

He starts plating up, adding his lifeboat orange carrot

and miso puree first, then placing his potatoes on top,

dressing with samphire and sea lettuce.

One minute to come up to the pass.

I might need an extra one.

He pours his jus, slices his beef fillet...

Happy with the way it's cooked? Oh, yeah, I am.

...adds a final spoonful of the carrot and miso puree...

Oui? Yeah, OK.

...and serves with pared-back, prop-free presentation.

So, john, tell us the name of your dish

and the inspiration behind it.

It's called The Cow, The Sea Ancl The Lifeboat.

The inspiration is Lifeboat Luke.

Just really hope you kind of get the idea there and it really

packs a punch this time around.

What do you guys think? First main course.

Nice. Which one would you take?

This one for sure.

That's the one, I'll grab your sauce.

Good luck, john. Good luck, Chef, it looks great. Thanks, guys.

Are we getting more storytelling this time?

No. Don't think so.

Looking at the plate,

are you getting The Cow, The Sea And The Lifeboat?

I think it's there.

So your sauce represents the sea.

What colour is the sea?

I wasn't really going for the colour of it, like.

It's just sort of to represent the liquid part.

Are you happy with the seasoning on the beef?

I could have been slightly heavier, but the sauce is really punchy.

Let's move on to the lifeboat, what do you think of the texture?

Silky smooth.

Are you getting enough carrot coming through?

I think I maybe could have given you a bit more puree.

But, yeah, I think there's enough carrot there.

You need some big scores now.

Let's have a score, please.

Five.

There was no main element in the dish that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Right. I'd go a six.

I think there are elements on this dish that I enjoy.

I think the sauce is very good.

I like the freshness of the apple.

I just don't think that it marries well or that it fits the brief.

What would you give yourself for this dish?

|'dd give myself an eight for his. An eight? Yes, Chef.

Oh, I can't breathe.

Gemma's next and feeling the pressure.

Er... What do I need to do?

Venison, chestnut puree.

Can I help? Might get you just to blend the sauce.

Could I get a stick blender and some cold butter, please?

As the venison rests and the pie is removed from the oven...

Ooh, nice. Very nice. Wow.

...she steps up a gear.

OK, pie time.

Next onto the plate is the blackberry puree...

Pickles are there.

...topped with pickled blackberries,

followed by the fondant apples.

They're a little sweet, just glazed on a bit of Calvados.

You've got three minutes, Gemma. Yes, Chef.

I'm getting your candles ready for you.

Oui. Thank you, Chef.

Kerry then helps by emulsifying her sauce with butter. Yeah.

Two nobs, please. Thank you.

All right. Well, your candles are lit.

Yes, Chef. Wine glasses are poised.

Hint, hint.

She gives her venison one finals ear...

I just want to get a wee bit of extra flavour on that venison there.

...before adding sauce to her pie.

Right, I'm going to put the meat on, and then we're good to go.

With the venison rested and seasoned, she adds to the plate

and drizzles with more sauce.

OK, let's go.

Gemma serves with a card explaining her inspiration.

My dish is called The Moral Of The Story, and the inspiration

is Seamus Heaney's Five Fables.

Are you happy with what you've put forward?

I left the chestnut puree off on purpose. OK. Because?

I didn't like it. All right.

Don't put it on if it's not right. Fair enough.

What do you guys think? Really good story there.

Like,from the smell, I can tell you it's going to taste great.

First, let's start off with the venison.

Let's talk about the seasoning.

For me, it's spot on.

I like the texture, but I think the cooking degrees on it

is bang on.

I really like that.

The pastry on your pie.

I love that pastry.

I think it's really, really good.

How about the filling, Kerry?

Has the cheese disappeared a bit?

I didn't get cheese, no.

Blackberry puree.

Do you think the balance is right on that?

I like it, yeah.

It cuts through the richness of that pie.

You decided to sauce this dish at the pass.

Was that the right decision?

No, no.

I let Kerry emulsify my sauce, and I wasn't happy with it after.

I should have given myself more time.

Good balance. Good effort, good story.

I give her an eight for that. I'd give her an eight, too.

She's looking for an eight, and I think she deserves it.

I would love an eight, but maybe a seven.

The sauce that I had would have just pushed it.

But...we live and we learn.

How did you find it?

I was happy with 90% of the elements.

Missed the sauce.

Not your fault, but I should have emulsified it myself

because it was nicer before it.

That is a cracking looking pie. Thank you.

If somebody could get the prop up? Oh, watch the flag.

Kerry is searing the hispi cabbage.

Right. That's quite cute.

It makes me want to have a nap. Yeah.

Her next job is much trickier.

Is it going onto that little plate? Yeah.

The plate's not big enough.

Oop, there it goes. OK, we're OK.

Perfect.

Are we good your side?

This side's free, yeah.

We're good. I'm going this way.

You're coming in here.

Hold on. You put it in.

I don't want to wreck it on you, mate.

Kerry, I know you're under a lot of pressure, but you are due.

Probably going to be another two minutes, Chef.

Two minutes, OK. just having a couple of pie problems here.

Yep.

OK, on three.

One, two, three.

Down.

Yes, Chef. Yep.

You got it? Yeah.

It's made it, it's made it.

She decants her sauce, adds a spoonful of champ

and tops the cabbage with beef tendons and panko crumb.

Champ beside the cabbage.

Kerry, just so you know, you've had three minutes of extra time.

No problem, coming right now.

# Underground, over ground, wombling free

# The Wombles of Wimbledon Common are we...#

It never fails.

The centrepiece pie emerges from a Wombles burrow.

That baby.

This is Madame Cholet's Pie.

The inspiration is the Wombles.

Madame Cholet was the chef for the Wombles.

The link to the brief is using the everyday things

that folk leave behind.

So I've tried to use bits of the cow that people don't usually use.

It was a bit dicey with that pie, yeah?

It's always dicey with that pie!

It's never been smooth, yeah.

That's a good noise. That's a lovely noise. Yeah.

Oh! Oh, watch that.

Oh, this whole scenario happening over here. Yeah.

Making a mess on this, guys, apologies.

I think you just need to free it a bit on this side.

It's stuck on there.

There you go, there you have it.

Nice. There she blows.

Sorry.

OK. What do you guys think?

Saucy. Good.

Saucy!

Has the pastry come out as you wanted?

I'm very pleased with the pastry, Chef, yeah.

I think her pastry's lovely. Mm-hm.

The texture of the tongue.

It's turned out the way that I wanted it to.

You've got a layer of celeriac and spinach.

What's the reasoning behind that?

I want the inside of my pie to be full of sauce, which it was.

But spinach helps to soak up the sauce and sort of create

a barrier between the pie pastry at the bottom.

What about this beef tendon crumb?

It's a wee bit soft. I'd give that a seven.

I'd also give it a seven.

Storytelling was great.

I think it needs tweaked, so I'd like a seven or an eight.

How would you refine this dish?

I think less sauce.

I'd work on the crumb and bring in some more acidity.

Thank you, Kerry. Thank you, Chef.

Hello, Chef. Hello. All right?

Well, how did you find that?

Tough. Yeah, pretty tough.

Let's talk about your overall impressions of the main course.

I was pretty happy with the quality of cooking.

I think the storytelling has got stronger.

How are the scores adding up in your head?

I think it spans from just OK to, you know, has great potential.

"Has great potential." Wow.

Gemma is on 14 points, john, ten, and Kerry, nine.

Hello, chefs.

Well, it's really good to see that all three of you have settled

into the kitchen. I love it.

John, for your dish, The Cow, The Sea And The Lifeboat,

I understand how you can see your story, but other diners

at the banquet,

I don't see how they were going to see your vision.

I mean, you had a lovely piece of fillet, and I just don't think

you did it justice.

I found it to be undercooked, in my opinion, in the middle.

The carrot and miso puree had a really good mouthful,

but I thought the miso really detracted from the flavour

of the carrot.

With regards to the apple,

I was open-minded, but I just don't think it worked.

Gemma, for your dish, Moral Of The Story,

I think somewhere that it's clear that you've excelled in this week

is your ability to tell stories.

And once again, that ability's shone through.

The venison for me was cooked perfectly.

Everything about the pastry was perfect.

I just love the way it crumbled, you know,

the texture was great.

That was, for me, an absolute winner.

The blackberry elements, they were lovely,

but I think you need to choose one -

either go for the puree or the pickled blackberry.

Kerry, your dish, Madame Cholet's Pie.

I thought the presentation was wonderful.

You chose to put raw spinach into the pie.

I think that's a bit of a mistake because spinach is full of water,

and that's just adding to that moisture.

The tongue, what you should do is probably cut it a little smaller.

The pastry on the top was great -

everything you want a pie crust to be.

Your sauce, that was lip-smackingly good.

It was just so intense.

But the potato in the champ was overworked.

And so to the scores.

John, I'm scoring you...

...a four.

I think that you yourself are starting to understand what's

been going wrong for you. It's the storytelling.

Totally understand.

Take it on board, Chef. Thank you. Gemma.

I'm scoring you...

...an eight.

That dish was elegant and powerfully flavourful.

Kerry.

I'm scoring you...

...a seven.

It was wonderful, really.

This dish has got a lot of potential, I think.

Right, people, savoury courses are done,

and we move into the sweet part of the menu.

I wish you loads of luck.

Thank you.

It's just the brief, time and time again.

But I don't think he knows what's coming with desserts.

How do you guys feel about the dessert course now?

Concerned. Concerned for timing,

but excited cos I just love pastry.

Shall we get started? Yeah. Great.

Let's do it. Let's go, guys.

Absolutely delighted with an eight for the main course.

I'm in a better position than I've been any year

that I've been here, and now we're going into my favourite part

of the menu, so that's to look forward to.

A bit gutted on my score for the main course,

but it is the brief that's stung me once again, big time.

I'm happy with my seven for a pie.

So seven again, I'd be delighted.

I just need to get the head down.

Time for a mini course,

the pre-dessert.

It isn't scored but will be used in the case of a tie-break.

Kerry is melting butter and whisking egg whites and sugar for her brown

butter base and caramelising apples for her puree.

What are they? They're apples from Armagh.

So what is happening with these apples from Armagh?

It's going to be, basically, a one-bite apple crumble.

Right. So we'll have a crumble, we'll have a little base,

we'll have this puree and then the crumble on top.

When Paddington went to prison in Paddington 2,

he turned the prison kitchen into a patisserie.

OK. So this is inspired by that.

It's Charley Rumble's Warm Apple Crumble, as seen in Paddington 2.

You're paying homage to the little bear. Yeah.

John is making sorbet, mixing condensed milk,

milk and sugar, and heating.

It's called Earthworm Jim The Cleanser.

A computer game, it's also a cartoon as well.

I was a massive fan of it when I was a kid.

A personal connection - always excellent in this competition.

I'm going to make a chocolate soil.

So that's the earth for Earthworm jim. Exactly.

Then I've clone sea buckthorn jelly... Yeah.

...which is currently setting in worm moulds,

so it should come out and look exactly like a worm.

Ho or ah! Yeah. And then I'm going to do a milk sorbet on the dish as well

because Earthwormjim is in a white Super Suit that falls

from space and then the worm goes in there, so that's to represent...

That's you putting the two things together.

You want the food to do the talking, but you're actually putting

the story on the plate as well. This is excellent, john. Yes.

Gemma has set her white chocolate yuzu shell

and is mixing her pistachio and ginger crumble.

My pre-dessert is called Right Up To The Moon And Back,

and the inspiration for that is Guess How Much I Love You.

Basically, it's about two hares and throughout the book, they go

to different places to measure how much they love each other.

And then, in the end, they decide that the quantity of space needed

is right to the moon and back.

Aw! So I'm going to do a white chocolate, yuzu heart.

Ancl inside that, I've got a mango cremeux.

I'm going to do a mango, pineapple and mint salsa. Wow.

Ancl then that's going to go with a ginger crumb.

I'm going to spray that red, so it's going to be a heart...

Beautiful. ..for Guess How Much I Love You.

That's a fancy pre-dessert, isn't it?

Kerry is mixing pieces of bread, nuts and sugars

for a baked crumble topping.

With her mango cremeux set,

Gemma spreads her pineapple, mango and mint salsa and places

in the blast chiller.

Perfect. I hope this is the fastest ice cream machine

I've ever worked with in my life.

John finishes whisking his chocolate into a fine soil consistency.

His milk is churning, but the chefs have to work together to make sure

they serve their dishes at the same time.

John, it's on you, mate. You just let us know when you're ready, OK?

Yeah. I think it's going to be ready. Yeah.

Can I start plating, john? Oui!

One minute, please, chefs.

Yes, it came out! Eat one for luck.

Hopefully, that's not the only one that comes out, then.

LAUGHTER

Yes, Chef.

Yep!

All right. Everybody happy?

Yes. Yes. All right, let's go. Thank you, chefs.

Looks like you've got some wonderful sweet treats for me.

I come bearing gifts. This looks good.

The inspiration is Earthwormjim.

I'm getting it. I see a worm. And earth? I see some earth. Yeah.

Oh! It's like a realworm,john.

Lovely sorbet. I know, it came out so good!

I really like the texture of the milk sorbet.

I think that's really well clone. It's too much soil, though.

Yeah, I agree with you,

cos that's the sweetest element on the plate.

I do love the detail.

That's lovely, isn't it?

Oh!

WOW!

Heavens. It's been tempered...

Really well. ..wonderfully. Yeah.

Just the chocolate itself, it's just lovely and cleansing.

Love the bits of pineapple in it. It's a really welcome texture there.

Good at pastry, aren't you?

I love pastry.

Smells gorgeous. Oh, I love this. So cute.

It's my kind of thing, yeah.

Mm'.!

Yummy. Oh, I like that.

The textures from the outside where, you know, it's been baked

and then inside, lovely soft... Soft and yielding. Wonderful.

Ancl then that crumb over the top, it's so rich. Oh, I like that.

That's an apple crumble in a bite. I wish you two were judging.

THEY LAUGH

This is my favourite, number one.

Number two.

And number three.

Can you guess who made which pre-dessert, do you think?

This just screams Gemma.

I'm going to say this is Kerry and this is going to be john.

Absolutely correct.

But, look, john finally got a story on the plate.

It's time for the dessert course,

the final course after quite a bumpy week,

and it's the chefs' last chance to impress a veteran actor.

Gemma is in the lead, on 22 points,

Kerry is on 16 and john is on 14.

It's tight at the bottom of the leader board,

and the dessert course is famously tricky.

Anything could happen.

Determined to get her dessert done in time,

Kerry is busy heating blackcurrants and sugar for her jam and mixing

white chocolate, mascarpone and bay leaves and dissolving gelatine

for her cheesecake.

Got a few things working now.

Just need them, obviously, to be set on time.

But, yeah, all things well currently.

The title is The Green Crayon.

The inspiration behind the dish is the Oliverjeffers illustrated

book The Day The Crayons Quit.

It will look like a crayon and it'll eat like a cheesecake.

There's going to be some blackcurrant jam

and candied almonds.

Yep. There's a mascarpone, white chocolate

and bay cheesecake for the filling.

Chocolate, are you going to temper that up?

I'm doing a speed temper because, obviously, I'm under a bit

of time constraint.

So I'm using the Thermomix and bringing the chocolate up to 45,

50 degrees by the time I take it out.

Ancl then I'm going to get it in the blast chiller as quickly

as possible. By putting it in the blast chiller,

you're almost going to allow it to set. Quite dicey this, actually.

Quite tricky. I hope it really works out for you.

With her white chocolate melted, Kerry fills the crayon moulds,

removes the excess, then chills.

For john, it's his last chance to impress and earn some big points.

I'm quite well known for pastry,

so, like, I really need to send it home with this one.

Out of all my courses,

there's definitely a story here, like. This one's going to be good.

John is making a cup of tea with jelly, a tea foam and mixing

sugar, pectin and orange juice and reducing for a tea jam.

For his next layer, the jelly,

he adds stock syrup and lemon juice to the tea.

He's whisking cream, egg yolk and sugar for his foam.

It's quite difficult to get all them things to actually sit together

perfectly and not melt or mesh together.

But if I can pull that off, it's an absolute winner.

I'm calling it The Beavers, The Kids Ancl The Suitcase,

and it's based upon Narnia,

The Lion, The Witch Ancl The Wardrobe.

One of my favourite books ever.

When they arrive, they get a cup of tea, some milk,

a sticky marmalade roll.

So I'm going to take those three elements

and I'm just going to put a wee sort of twist on it, like.

How's it going to work? I'm going to do a tea jam on the base. Yeah.

And then I'm going to do a tea jelly in the middle.

Ancl then I'm going to do a hot tea foam.

Oh! I'm going to do a milk parfait

and then, I'm going to roll that in a brown butter crumb.

Ancl then I'm going to do the sticky marmalade roll on the side.

I really hope this works out for you. Yes. Thank you so much.

Appreciate it.

Whilst john is boiling down oranges for his marmalade and mixing

ingredients for an almond sponge,

Gemma is spinning lots of plates, too.

I'm making four elements that need to be cooked, cooled,

and then set within a cherry mould in the time and have time to defrost

and then glazed. So there is a lot of work to do.

Her first job is chocolate ice cream.

She combines salt and cocoa powder and whisks

before adding milk and cream.

She's also making a compote by boiling cherry puree and syrup

and is caramelising almonds in sugar and butter

for her mixed nut crumble. Last year, her desserts scored tens

all round in the judges' chamber.

There's definitely a lot of pressure to do well, based on the fact

that this is always the course I do well in.

So, yeah, hopefully, I can pull that off.

The title of the dish is The BFG'S BFG.

It's The Big Friendly Giant's Black Forest Gateau.

Oh. Yeah, I get that straight away.

Who doesn't love The BFG?

Obviously written by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake.

So your Black Forest gateau is going to be inside your cherry.

I am doing a cherry compote using some Am arena cherries.

I'm then doing an almond brittle in the middle,

just for a bit of texture.

Underneath that, I'm going to do a hazelnut and almond feuilletine,

and that is going to be covered in a amaretto mascarpone cream.

On the side of that, I'm going to make some chocolate

kid's ice cream. Sounds delightful, that does.

It sounds epic, doesn't it?

Back to her cherry compote,

she blends kirsch and malic acid,

passes and adds cherries.

Meanwhile, she melts chocolate with cocoa butter, then adds hazelnut

and almond praline, before spreading and chilling to set.

The BFG's Black Forest Gateau, it's all going to be encased

in a gorgeous, shiny cherry.

Everything just sounds wonderful already,

and that's that extra step from being just ridiculously good

becomes sublime.

John's dish, I feel like he's got the story in his hand

more than before.

I genuinely feel he really has put a lot of thought into this.

Yes, I do too.

I think he might just pull off something quite spectacular.

I really, really hope that he does.

I want him to nail this one.

Kerry's dish, it sounds fantastic. It does.

I mean, it's probably going to be the first crayon

I've enjoyed eating - I hope.

She said she's doing a speedy temper.

I wouldn't recommend it.

I think tempering chocolate is a process that you really

have to take your time with.

But if she pulls it off, this could be so fantastic.

But current indicators aren't good.

Kerry has spoiled her cheesecake.

It's ruined. It's over-whisked. The cream's split out.

It's more like butter, so we can't serve that.

It's the last thing she needs.

I took my eye off of it,

so I need to remake it.

Kerry starts her cheesecake again.

This one's better, so we're good.

Back on track now...

...after that disaster.

Crisis averted.

Kerry then fills her outer crayon shell with candied almonds,

the cheesecake mixture and jam.

Talk me through this.

The blackcurrant jam is there to bring acidity to my dessert.

You seem very confident.

I'm looking forward to tasting the end results.

Thank you, Chef.

It's not actually a blackcurrant jam.

It's more like a really thick compote.

And the 'flavour was wrong as we“.

It's just too sweet.

That perfume, the aroma of the blackberry,

that's what I want to get, and I wasn't getting any of that.

I'm really concerned.

I need them to set. just have to wait

for the blast chiller to do what it does.

For john, it's a waiting game, too,

as his parfait sets in the freezer.

Marmalade for his Swiss roll is also made...

Beautiful.

...and now needs to cool. His tea jam is still setting.

I'm getting background notes of the tea, but what's the fruity note?

I wanted to get Turkish delight in somewhere,

so I was able to get it into the tea.

I put a bit of breakfast tea in there

just so you really get that tea hit.

I was very pleasantly surprised by john's Turkish delight tea jam.

It had some lovely floral notes that you get from the Turkish delight.

It's got a nice flavour of tea running through it.

I think he's really worked it well,

so I'm quietly confident he's going to pull this off.

Onto his brown butter crumb,

which will be dipped in milk parfait just before serving.

But there's an issue.

It's just the type of milk powder, like,

it's just not what I normally use, like.

But I think if I just let it set and blitz it,

I'll get the same result.

It doesn't look like how it should at the minute,

but I guarantee it will at the end.

With her chocolate ice cream churning,

Gemma is lining silicon trays with cherry compote.

She then moves onto her mascarpone cream, adding vanilla

before piping into a silicon mould

to form her outer cherry shell.

I'd love to try your mascarpone cream.

How have you clone this?

So that is mascarpone.

I have cream in there.

Amaretto, which I've burnt the alcohol off.

Some hazelnut and almond praline in there as well.

And a wee bit of vanilla pod.

You've got to get this all frozen on the outside, at least,

so you can get the glaze on it, right? Absolutely. Yeah.

So you have given yourself enough time? Yes, I have.

I've just tried Gemma's mascarpone and amaretto cream.

She's balanced that incredibly well,

and I'm looking forward to a banging gateau.

With her cherry compote set,

she places them inside the cream shells

and tops with caramelised almonds, mixed nuts and almond feuilletine,

and then more amaretto and mascarpone cream, and freezes.

With her crayon chilled, Kerry is getting ready to serve.

All that's left to do is spray the outer shell

of her white chocolate and mascarpone cheesecake

and add the edible paper sleeve.

But she's hit another problem.

It hasn't worked. It's not the right colour

that I need it to be.

She goes with it for this crayon,

but quickly mixes more green food colouring

and applies that to her remaining white chocolate shells.

Kerry, you've got two minutes to go.

Yes, Chef.

She rolls them in the edible paper she's had printed.

I'll tell you what, it looks like a crayon, like. Thank you.

Not exactly delighted with the colour, but, I mean,

I'd rather be up on time.

We're down to one minute.

Yes.

The name of my dish is The Green Crayon

from the book The Day The Crayons Quit,

which is illustrated by Oliverjeffers.

What do you think?

Yeah, it's cool, like. Really, really cool. Love it.

Kerry, are you happy?

I'm a little bit disappointed with the colour of the spray,

but I can work on that. It's good. It looks good.

OK. Thanks.

Choose one and let's go and taste.

Good luck, Chef. Thank you very much.

Oh...

So it just set...

The tempering on the white chocolate...

You took a speedy method to it.

Has that worked?

I think that I was happy with the tempering,

but I've added two layers of chocolate.

I think probably, if I was to do it again, I would add one.

I like what she's got going on in the middle.

Yeah, it's lovely. Really, really nice.

Let's talk about your blackcurrant jam.

I didn't use jam sugar today, I just used ordinary sugar

and finished it with some lemon juice for acidity.

OK, let's score it.

I'm going to give that a seven. I love the flavour.

I love the presentation. It definitely tells a story.

It's just that wee bit of execution at the end. Mm-hm.

I 100% agree, like, a seven for that.

I don't think I've executed it to the best of my abilities today.

So probably a six.

Well, guys, how are you getting on?

GEMMA: Stress! JOHN: Yeah.

How did you find it? I wasn't happy with it.

It didn't have enough time to come down in temperature,

but absolutely nothing I can do about it now.

John's next to serve,

and he needs some big points.

He spreads marmalade onto almond sponge for his Swiss roll.

With his jelly set in the cup,

he adds his next layer - jam.

Time for the finishing touch to his Swiss roll.

You wanting to brulee that, or...?

No, I kind of just want that effect of, like,

it's coated in ice, you know what I mean? It's frozen.

That's why I've hit it with a wee bit of isomalt,

just to kind of balance it out.

You know yourself, isomalt, it's not really sweet at all,

but it gives you the same effect as sugar.

I Spy a prop. Incredible!

Oh, goodness me.

Oh, no.

John, you've got three minutes.

Are you going to be on time? I will, Chef.

He then rolls his milk parfait in the butter crumb mix.

Anything else to go on? I need to get some liquid nitrogen

for a wee bit of a show here.

I'm going to get my safety gear on.

Oh. Stand by.

Hopefully, you can smell the forest there, guys.

And finally, he tops with his tea foam.

Oh, cool. Really nice. Very cool.

The dish is called The Beavers, The Kids And The Suitcase.

The inspiration is Narnia, The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe.

And instead of saying The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe,

I'm doing The Beaver, The Kids And The Suitcase.

Good luck, Chef. Good luck, Chef.

Cheers. Good luck, john. Looks great. Enjoy, guys.

SHE CHUCKLES

# Ta-na-na-na! #

Flavour of the tea.

Could that be a bit bitter?

That's why the foam is quite sweet,

and that's why I've decided to put the jam at the bottom.

So it just balances out that bitter middle part.

Is that light enough for you?

I do really pride myself on my parfaits.

Finally, on to your frozen marmalade roll. Yeah.

It doesn't work. It's not nice to eat,

because it is so chewy.

Bit concerned about the fillings.

I'll be honest with you, Chef. I rushed it a bit.

I'm not happy with the texture on that.

But visually, yeah, it does what I wanted it to do.

If you read the book, it says a sticky marmalade roll,

and I just wanted it real sticky, rich.

I think I'm going to ask you for some scores. Six.

I'm going to go seven with this one.

This time around, Chef, I give myself an eight.

Well... How was it? Good. Yeah.

I put a lot of effort in there, and a few things I'm not happy with,

obviously, like, but it's just down to the time constraints.

But, yeah, you look like you're getting on smashing there.

Nearly there, mate. Nearly there.

Lastly, it's Gemma's turn.

She's dipping her dessert into food colouring

so it looks like a cherry...

...and adds her mixed nut crumble.

Gemma, you've got nine minutes, so... Yes, Chef.

...make it count. I will.

Are you coming up early? I am going to be early. Mm.

Oh, what's that look?

You not happy, Gemma?

Nope. What's up?

I'm not happy with the glaze on the cherries.

I don't know why this has happened

because I make this glaze all the time and it's always perfect.

Maybe it's just down to the temperature in here.

It's the curse of dessert course

on Great British Menu kitchen. Yeah. Absolutely.

What's that crumb you're putting on now?

That's just the feuilletine. I'm just adding a wee bit extra there.

Followed by her chocolate ice cream...

I want this to be that childhood ice cream that you just adore.

...decorative chocolate meringue...

Gemma? Yes, Chef?

Four minutes.

...and it's served with a mojito cocktail.

Done. BFG's BFG.

Black Forest gateau. Happy?

No. You're not happy with your glaze, are you?

The flavour will be there. It's just not what I wanted it to look like.

Well, let's choose one.

Just go for that one. I'll take the mojito. Absolutely.

Your cherry compote, you've got some kirsch in that.

I wanted the cherry to be quite acidic,

just to knock through all of the chocolate elements.

Black Forest gateau -

there's always a sponge element to it. Mm-hm.

You've clone without that.

That cherry is already quite intense.

It's got tonnes of flavour.

I don't want to make that dense and add a sponge into that.

I'm happy with it without it.

I love the texture she's got going on there.

I think the mascarpone cream just really helps

to mellow everything out and just helps that dish along.

Those ratios are very good, actually. Very good. Yeah.

She's got her balance right there.

The chocolate ice cream. I love that chocolate ice cream.

What score would you give yourself for this?

I would love an eight for that.

What would you do to make this a ten?

Really, it's just the glaze.

I'm not sure I would change anything else.

I'll give her a nine, like. That's a better. It's class.

Had her glaze been exactly what she wanted it to be,

she would have been getting a ten. So nine.

Glad it's over! Yeah, me too. Yeah.

Really glad it's over. Um...

How did yous find it? Tough.

Yeah. Pastry's way harder. Yeah!

Gemma is top of the pack, anyway.

I'm assuming that she's going through.

Gemma is definitely going through to see the judges.

Which leaves us with john and Kerry. And Kerry.

There's only two points between them.

They both had errors on their plates that were inescapable.

Both could have clone so much better, I think.

But obviously, John's upped his storytelling game.

You got story from john. Yeah.

He's literally pulled the suitcase out of the bag this time.

There's a lot to consider here. Mm-hm.

You sure you don't want to swap places?

I'm really good, thanks. You sure?

Currently, Gemma is in the lead on 24,

Kerry is second on 16, and john is on 14.

Well, chefs, desserts have brought us to the end of quite a tough week.

It's been a week of ups and downs, for sure.

Kerry, for your dish, The Green Crayon,

I like the link to the brief.

It's fantastic.

The tempered white chocolate...

The chocolate didn't have the snap

that you want it to have when it's tempered well,

and it certainly didn't have that beautiful, glossy sheen

that I expect from well-tempered chocolate.

The mascarpone cheesecake,

I think it was just set too hard.

Onto your blackcurrant jam.

I would sincerely suggest using a traditional jamming process.

If you were to do this again,

I would consider adding some green colour to the white chocolate,

rather than going through the spraying process.

That will also save you some time.

John, for your dish, The Beavers, The Kids And The Suitcase,

we actually saw some serious storytelling, you know,

that really represented Narnia to me.

The warm tea foam, the initial taste is quite pleasant.

What it didn't have is integrity.

By the time I got to it, it had already collapsed.

The jelly and jam tea element

actually left quite a bitter, unpleasant note on my palate.

The marmalade roll was lovely, rich and sticky,

but the additional sugar work,

that just added another layer of sweetness

to something that's already sweet.

The milk parfait, a nice, dense ice cream would have been better.

That said, though, the crumb around it, I really enjoyed.

Gemma, for your dish, BFG's BFG,

again, the presentation and the storytelling was excellent.

The richness from the mascarpone,

and then you've got that sour, sharp, fruity hit from the cherries,

and then that lovely, warming note of the kirsch

coming through in the background.

I thought that was perfectly balanced.

For me, a Black Forest gateau needs to have a sponge,

so I would sincerely recommend you consider adding that sponge back in

and then taking the almonds out.

The chocolate ice cream, for me,

was one of the best chocolate ice creams that I've ever had.

So well clone.

Thank you, Chef.

And so to the scores.

Gemma, I'm giving you...

...an eight.

I know you weren't happy with your glaze,

but I got a real thrill from this dish.

Kerry...

...I'm scoring you...

...a four.

Kerry, I know you had problems,

but I think visually that dish looked really great.

The problems are easily rectified.

Ancl finally, john...

...I'm scoring you...

...a six.

It was wonderful to see you embracing the whole story,

but also the whole process.

Congratulations, Gemma.

You are through to cook for the judges.

John and Kerry,

with 20 points each, you are tied.

And that means we had to look at the pre-dessert.

The predessert that Aktar preferred...

...was Kerry's.

Well done, Kerry.

You're through to cook for the judges tomorrow.

John, that unfortunately means you'll be leaving us.

But thank you so much.

Thank you for doing that in the dessert course.

It really meant a lot, didn't it? It did. We were all very excited!

I'm really happy to see how you developed throughout the week.

Both of you, good luck tomorrow with the judges.

Obviously, you've had a lot of feedback. Take that on board.

We'll see you two tomorrow. Commiserations, john.

It's been great having you. Cheers. Thanks, guys. Thank you.

Thank you, guys. Well clone, guys. Cheers. Sorry, mate. It's OK.

Get in! Smashed it. Smashed it. Well clone. Thanks.

It was right to the wire there, and it came down to the predessert,

so can't be too bothered by that.

Gracious in defeat, let's say.

Friday's a different ballgame.

The slate is wiped clean tomorrow.

Well, both you ladies got a lot to do.

You better get ready, like. Let's go.

Shocked. just really shocked.

I'm going to take all of the advice that I've been given.

Fingers crossed, I can make the changes.

Third time in the judging chamber.

Hopefully the first time through to the finals week.

I really want it this year,

so I'm going to give it absolutely everything.

If they take my changes on board,

this could be a very close race.

Tomorrow, one palate to impress becomes four

as our chefs cook their whole menu for the judges.

I'm so excited.

But there's drama...

SHE GASPS

...and something never seen before on Great British Menu.

For the first time...