Great British Menu ™

Challenge Type:

"The Passing of the Flame"

Aktar Islam (behind the scenes): "Problem is that as much as I love aubergine, if it becomes too samey for me, I'll just switch off."

Andi Oliver, speaking to camera: "Those aubergines smell delicious as Samira's aubergines smoke on the barbecue. She's working on the flames for her torch."

Chef Samira: "The cherry tomatoes have just gone into the dehydrator. They take about an hour, and then I need to fry them."

Andy Oliver, speaking to camera: "Samira is whipping vegan feta with lime and combining the smoked aubergines with passata and garlic. She's also making a black garlic purée, which should add a real punch."

Note: In the heats, Aktar Islam worried that the lime and feta mousse was too wet and mild, so for her next round, Samira added less water and less lime juice.

Final Dish

The Passing of the Flame, in its final form, was a wedge of aubergine and passata puree, topped with char-grilled aubergine, glazed with date and molasses and studded with a mousse of lime with vegan feta cheese. It is further garnished with tiny bites of dehydrated cherry tomatoes, black garlic puree and bronze fennel leaves. The dish is shaped to resemble a torch and has mock flames of red and orange (colored with tomato and saffron) rice crisp.

Judge asks Chef some key questions about the finished dish

Aktar Islam: "For the base of your dish. It's all built around this smoked aubergine puree. Are you happy with the texture and seasoning?"

Chef Samira: "Yeah, I think so."

Fellow judges, talking about the dish behind the scenes:

"The puree lifts everything."

"I love that little barbecue flavor that's coming through."

"I'm not sure I'm getting much pickle."

Aktar Islam: "Let's talk about the whipped vegan feta."

Chef Samira: "I think, to be honest, I would have wanted it to be a little bit thicker."

Fellow judges, talking about the dish behind the scenes:

"I would have put a tiny bit of salt on the crisp if I was being super critical."

Aktar Islam: "You've put a lot of work into this."

Chef Samira: "Yeah, I think I need to nail the temperature of the oil before frying it."

Summary

Aktar Islam: "Samira, your dish "passing of the flame", the crisp element, which you were concerned about, I thought that was fantastic. Lovely and in season, I was very happy with that. The aubergine puree was smoky, but not too smoky. I thought the texture was fantastic. For me, it is an element. I would have wanted a bit more of the aubergine chunks. For me, they were just a bit too small. I would want to see a nice slab of aubergine that you're able to almost treat like a steak. So it builds up that nice layer of flavour. The whipped feta, it's not an element that I was very happy with. I just didn't like the texture of it. I didn't like the look of it. Overall, it has a lot of potential. You've got the right elements and all the ingredients there, you just need to rework everything."