Spoiler alert: This article mentions dishes created in tonight’s heat of Great British Menu
Two Lake District chefs are competing in the new series of Great British Menu, which started on BBC Two this week.
Paul Leonard, of Forest Side in Grasmere and Jack Bond, of Cottage in the Wood in Whinlatter, near Keswick, are vying against two other chefs in the North West heats of the prestigious competition.
Also competing are Daniel Heffy from NORD in Liverpool and Exose Grant, of Exose at Home in Manchester, for the chance to show off their skills during finals week and ultimately cook at a banquet for Britain’s movie industry.
On Tuesday February 24, the chefs created canapes, starters and a fish course.
Yesterday, Wednesday February 25, they showed off their main courses and desserts.
Spoiler alert – we spoke to Paul, who joined Forest Side seven years ago, about his dishes tonight and the inspiration behind them.
You can read about his starter and fish course inspirations here.
Main: We’ve Gone on Holiday by Mistake
What is your inspiration for this dish?
This dish is inspired by Withnail and I, the cult 1987 comedy drama set partly in Penrith.
There is a famous scene where the characters are given a live chicken by a local farmer and make a complete mess of preparing it.
I wanted to flip that moment on its head and give them the chicken dinner they deserved, something generous, comforting and rooted in proper British produce.
It became my favourite dish on the menu and the one I am most proud of from the competition.
Where are the ingredients from?
The herb fed chicken is sourced from the North, with all of the dairy coming from Cumbria.
The peas are picked fresh from our kitchen garden at Forest Side, while the carrots and cauliflower are carefully sourced from trusted local growers. The dish is very much built around the strength of Northern produce, supported by herbs from the garden and a deeply flavoured chicken stock made in house.
How long did it take you to perfect the dish?
This was the dish that came together most naturally. We spent several weeks refining the balance between the different elements and making sure the chicken was cooked with absolute care.
It is a generous, multi-part plate, so the focus was on consistency and depth of flavour, and by the time we went into the kitchen I felt very confident in it.
Pre-Dessert: A Taste of Honey
What is your inspiration for this dish?
The dish is inspired by the 1961 film A Taste of Honey, which is set in Salford and stars Rita Tushingham, who was born in Garston, Liverpool.
I wanted something light, fresh and quietly nostalgic to bridge into dessert while still celebrating strong regional identity and produce.
Where are the ingredients from?
The honey is incredibly personal to us. It comes from the garden of a friend near Levens, produced by her parents.
The sea buckthorn is hand foraged from the Cumbrian coast by our team, bringing a sharp coastal brightness.
Wherever possible, the supporting dairy elements are sourced within Cumbria, keeping the dish closely tied to the region.
How long did it take you to perfect the dish?
This dish evolved through careful balancing of sweetness and acidity. Honey can easily dominate, so it took a number of kitchen trials to get the freshness and lightness where I wanted it.
It reached a point I was really happy with for the competition while still leaving the door open for further fine-tuning back at the restaurant.
Dessert: Shaken Not Stirred
What is your inspiration for this dish?
This is my tribute to Daniel Craig’s James Bond, particularly Casino Royale.
I have always loved the theatre of Bond and his connection to the martini, so I wanted to reinterpret those flavours through a dessert lens, blending the profile of an espresso martini with the comfort of a tiramisu style pudding.
Where are the ingredients from?
All of the dairy used in the dish is sourced from Cumbria.
The coffee is our own bespoke blend created with our coffee roasters and the woodruff used in the cream and infusion was harvested and dried from last year’s crop around Forest Side.
As with the rest of the menu, the aim was to anchor the dish in ingredients with a clear sense of place.
One of the four chefs will leave the competition tonight – and the final three will go forward to the judging stage, which will be broadcast today, Thursday February 26.
The episodes are available on the iPlayer.
