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Great British Menu chefs cook up seven course feast
Terry Kirby19 May 2009
It was when the amuse-bouche of that old Scottish stomach filler, haggis, neeps and tatties, arrived – an unexpectedly elegant mousse, topped by a delicate lattice of crisp potato strips on a bed of fresh young broad beans – that it became clear this was not going to be any ordinary meal.
"Well, it's certainly nothing like the haggis I ate on Burns Night," ventured Angela Hartnett, the Michelin-starred chef and one of the guests at last night's unique charity banquet at the Marriott Hotel in Grosvenor Square. "But it's delicious anyway," she added, scooping up every last morsel.
She was right. But this was just at the start of a remarkable seven course meal, conceived and cooked by seven of Britain's brightest young chefs and designed to showcase the best cooking from the around the country.
The star-studded cast of chefs – together boasting several Michelin stars and numerous other awards and eating guide recommendations - were all finalists in last years hit BBC series, The Great British Menu, in which they competed to cook a four course meal at the top of the Gherkin building in the City.
One of them, Jason Atherton, who has himself earned a Michelin star for his stewardship of Gordon Ramsay's Maze restaurant, decided to gather the seven together again for last night's one-off event to raise money for Hospitality Action, the charity run by and for the hospitality and catering trade, whose patrons include Jamie Oliver, Raymond Blanc and Heston Blumenthal.
With seats for the dinner at the Marriott, where Maze is also situated, costing £120 each, plus a charity auction of meals and rooms at some of the restaurants and hotels where Atherton and his colleagues cook, the evening raised a total of £35,000. One guest agreed to pay £3,100 for Atherton to cook a meal for six at his home.
"It's just my way of trying to put something back into the industry, to help out others who might be struggling because we are living in difficult times. And a lot of people, like waiting staff, have to work very long hours, for not much money," Atherton told the Standard.
After Atherton's canapés of seared tuna and deep fried risotto rice balls and Edinburgh chef Tom Kitchin's radical take on haggis, there was smoked salmon, beetroot and caviar from Abergavenny's Stephen Terry and a poached halibut, with cockle and smoked bacon from Northern Ireland's Danny Miller. The combination of pearly white halibut and bacon had Prue Leith, one of the GBM judges cooing with delight. "Halibut is my favourite fish and this is beautifully cooked," she said.
Next up was a main course of 'Lonkshire Lamb' with seasonal asparagus and samphire, cooked by Nigel Haworth, from the Michelin starred Northcote Manor in Lancashire, which prompted Angela Harnett among others to reach for the bread for much concentrated sauce mopping and lip smacking.
The two-course desert finale of verbena blancmange, summer fruits and flowers, from Chris Horridge of Cliveden House in Berkshire (One of the most exciting young chefs around,' confided Leith) and a decadent passion fruit and chocolate truffle from Birmingham's Glynn Purnell rounded off the dinner before all seven slightly exhausted chefs appeared for a round of applause.
What was remarkable, observed several guests, was that in an industry known for its fierce competitiveness and rampant egos, that seven highly talented chefs had managed to occupy the cramped kitchens of the Marriot, turning out a complex, multi-course meal for more than 250 people, without a raised word. Perhaps, as Atherton said afterwards, it was due to the realization that they are among the lucky ones: "For every celebrity chef out there, we know there are probably 2,000 more who don't make it."
What they cooked:
Canapes: Jason Atherton - seared tuna and deep-fried risotto rice balls.
Amuse bouche: Tom Kitchin - gourmet haggis served with a lattice of potato strips.
Stephen Terry - smoked salmon, beetroot and caviar.
Starter: Danny Miller - poached halibut with cockle and smoked bacon.
Main course: Nigel Haworth - Lonkshire Lamb with seasonal asparagus and samphire.
Desserts: Chris Horridge - Verbena Blancmange with summer fruits and flowers.
Glynn Purnell - passion fruit and chocolate truffle.
Reader views (5)
Oh quite right Jack Levison of 'Here'.
One can only pick between the over-pampered amuse-bouches of this world or a 'McSlurry' burger, there can't be any sensible middle ground.
I appreciate that going to a restaurant should oft be a gastronomic event to expand and explore the senses, it's just I also feel that one of the main criteria should be to fill me up! As a 6'2" male, too many times I've been to a good, slow evening restaurant only to be still hungry by the time I've got back home - wondering what the hell that over-inflated bill was actually for.
As for so many 'Lardy Brits' having forgotten how to cook, I think a more accurate statement would be that they were never taught in the first place...
- John, London, 20/05/2009 11:46
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Give us a bash, at the Bangers and Mash, me muvver used to make.
(With apologies to the late, great, Peter Sellers)
- John Bowles(Ex Pat Englishman), White Plains, New York,USA., 20/05/2009 04:15
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To John of London.
Style over substance?
One of the things that so many Lardy Brits have forgotten is the ability to cook, the ability to appreciate taste, texture and flavour, and the appreciation of the visual aspects of well prepared food.
Sadly, pre-processed foods, with high fat, sugar, and salt content have destroyed what was originally a good wholesome British diet. Variety is the spice of life. It does not mean choosing McMenu 1 over BKMenu 2.
- Jack Levison, Here, 19/05/2009 22:53
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Ive bean to paradise but I have never bean to Lonkshire
- Gary, Brentwood, 19/05/2009 14:06
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Picture No3 is all that is wrong with so many modern or 'trendy' restaurants, as it is, quite literally, style over substance.
- John, London, 19/05/2009 13:45
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