Great British Menu ™
Baker:
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Week:
Challenge Type:
Dig In
Ashleigh: "My dish is called Dig In. And it's inspired by Mary Anning, who was a paleontologist from Lime Regis. She helped discover a Plateosaurus and then found a lot of amnionites as well. So that will visually inspire the dish. The main element of the dish is a cauliflower couscous, which will look like you're finding a fossil yourself. There's cauliflower couscous, mushroom puree, tempura mushrooms with cauliflower mousse. The dish is mainly cold, with the tempura mushrooms being hot, so it's more sort of ambient."
Michael Caines: "Is it all piled up?"
Ashleigh: "Essentially, yeah. But you just dig in, so you've got to "dig in" to discover."
Notes taken during cooking
Ashleigh adds rosemary and thyme to mushrooms for her puree.
Ashley's dish will sit on a base of cauliflower couscous that adds nice texture to the dish and hopefully will lift it with all the acidity in it.
Ashleigh: "It's vacuum packed to pickle and soften. Next, the delicate flour and soy tuille."
Ashleigh: "Got one tuille down and it's how I wanted it. Hope it's not beginners luck. Tell you what, the fact that this is working, it's fantastic."
Michael Caines: "This is the couscous?"
Ashleigh: "Yeah, that's the couscous that will sit underneath the dish."
Michael Caines: "Are you happy with the balance there?"
Ashleigh: "Yeah, it's a bit tangy by itself, but it balances the dish out nicely."
Michael Caines, having exited the kitchen: "So I think I've tasted better cauliflower couscous. It wasn't unpleasant, so let's see how that comes with the whole dish."
Finally, Ashley chills cauliflower mousses set in dinosaur molds.
Plating
Ashleigh starts with a base of zesty couscous. Then mushroom puree, dinosaur shaped cauliflower mousse, sprigs of pickled sea rosemary.
Next comes roasted silver skin onions, and mushroom tempura.
Amber: "Then I just need to get the soy tuilles on the plate without breaking them."
Michael Caines: "Tell us a little bit about this tuille."
Ashleigh: "It's a soy tuille so it's sort of quite bitter, quite salty.
Peers, tasting behind the scenes
"I love the tuille. It is so tasty."
Ashleigh: "You've got to get the different layers of crunch with the breadcrumbs on top. That's quite ingenious, actually."
Back in the judging room ...
Michael Caines: "On the couscous, are you pleased with the way it's made its contribution in the dish?"
Ashleigh: "Yes. I think it adds a different crunch."
Peers, tasting behind the scenes
"Mmmm ... quite a lot of lemon and acidity in the cauliflower, which is delicious."
"Which I've been really worried about, but it's absolutely fine."
Back in the judging room ...
Michael Caines: "Do you think that the temperature contrast in this dish works?"
Ashleigh: "I think it's nice because you sort of got smooth and crispy and then hot and cold, and I think it hopefully keeps the dish interesting."
Peers, tasting behind the scenes
"I think it'd be really nice if it was warm."
"A warm element might have been nice."
Back in the judging room ...
Michael Caines: "What would you score this dish?"
Ashleigh: "I think it needs some more acidity throughout. And then maybe I'd add some flavor to the tempora. I'll give it an 8.
Final Judging
Michael Caines: "Ashley, your dish. "Dig In". I love the presentation. It was brilliant. It really told a story. The soy tuille was a real success. Delicious. And added a nuttiness and depth to it. The mushroom tempura felt a little lost. They didn't feel like they're an integral part of your dish. I felt the dish would be better served warm, and I thought really having something like a mushroom velouté that would have just brought the whole thing together."
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