The BBC television series ‘Great British Menu’ is a show which sees the top chefs in Britain compete for a chance to cook one course of a four course banquet. In previous series, the final menu has been cooked for the Queen’s 80th birthday, the Ambassadors Dinner at the British Embassy in Paris, an event at the iconic Gherkin building in London hosted by Heston Blumenthal and finally the fourth series saw chefs cook a homecoming celebratory banquet for British troops returning from Afghanistan. With magnificent meals, the competing chefs have wowed the judges, thrilled the guests and delighted some of the world’s finest chefs with some of the best of British food.
This year the Great British Menu format consists of 8 Regional heats with a total of 24 chefs.Each region comprises of 3 greatly talented chefs battling it out in the kitchen in a bid to go forth to the final representing their region. They are then required to cook their menu for a panel of well known judges and hopefully deliver a winning dish for the final menu. The final four course banquet created by the winning four chefs will provide a magnificent British meal that the judges consider fitting for a yet to be revealed guest. With four fabulous dishes created by the best of Britain’s chefs, it’s an outstanding menu of great British food.
Michelin-starred Aiden Byrne, the Chef Proprietor of The Church Green in Lymm will compete in the North West Regional Heat against chefs Lisa Allen from the Northcote restaurant in Lancashire, and Johnnie Mountain from the Mosaica Restaurant at the Factory in London. The criteria of the competition requires each chef to be located in a local National Trust House of which Aiden has been selected Dunham Massey. Chefs are limited to a 25 mile radius of their selected property in which to source their ingredients. They are then required to deliver a 4 course menu of a starter, fish dish, main course and dessert which ultimately represents their region and connects to their property. For a week, the chefs battle it out in the heat of the kitchen under the watchful eye of their mentor Marcus Wareing, Berkeley restaurant owner in London and previous winner of the show.
With conflicting opinions on ‘local’ representation of ingredients, and disagreements on a chef’s worthiness of a position in the regional heats, pots and pans fly as the competition between the chefs really spices up in the kitchen! With so many beating and stirring appliances close to hand, it’s a wonder the fish was the only thing in the kitchen that got a battering! Think you can stand the heat of the kitchen? Starting Monday 5th April on BBC 2, definitely not to be missed.
