Great British Menu ™

Roasted and Barbecued Squash Trio with Vaduvan Sauce, British Grain Crumble and Fried Curry Leaves 

Ash uses three varieties of squash - curry squash, Crown Prince and Delica - roasted then finished on the barbecue. She describes the concept: 'Taking something that's really humble and trying to elevate it.' Her vaduvan sauce is built on aromatics including turmeric, cumin and mustard seeds, with apricots for sweetness. She explains her thickening technique: 'I actually kind of want the milk to split. Once the soy milk splits, when you whiz it back together, it thickens it slightly naturally without me having to add too much thickening agent, which I want to avoid because you can often have like a gummy texture.' Her grain crumble uses camelina seeds, ground linseeds and quinoa, bound with maple syrup: 'This is a plant based dish, so normally I would use honey for something like this. The maple syrup's a really good alternative.' Spencer tastes the grains mid-prep: 'They're quite sweet, they're quite claggy, so I'm unsure how much texture that's actually going to bring to the dish.' Served on handmade pottery plates glazed with waste material from Ash's restaurant, with pickled shallots, fried curry leaves and wild sorrel. At the pass: {Louisa}: 'It's very hard to cook squash where it's sort of like overdone or really under. Just in between. I think it's perfectly cooked.' James: 'I'd never tried vaduvan sauce before, and that was stunning.' {Nikita}: 'I like the texture of the crumb. It's got a nice little warmth to it.' Peer scores: Louisa 8, Nikita 8, James 8.