Great British Menu ™
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Experience Life in a Visual World
Hannah: :So the title of my next dish is 'Experience life in a visual world'. The inspiration behind it is Thomas Braidwood. He founded one of the first schools for the deaf. He basically was one of the biggest innovative people of bringing into society that just because you have something diverse about you doesn't mean that you can't do it. And he was one of the people who was the driving force behind British Sign Language."
Hannah: "So I have some sea bass, which I'm going to confit in duck fat. Artichokes discs on there. We've got an artichoke purée, chicken stock, beurre blanc, and then alongside that, I've got a brioche kiss. For me, if you've got a sauce like that, you need bread to dip it up."
Notes taken during cooking
Hannah's brioches hit the oven. She then poaches artichoke hearts in a lemon and chicken stock before filleting her centerpiece, Sea Bass.
Hannah: "The biggest concern for me right now is confiting that sea bass. That has to be managed with hundred percent attention."
Later ...
Hannah has cooked Jerusalem artichokes in milk, butter, and cream for her purée. And her brioches are now baked.
Hannah: "Fresh out the oven. And I'm just going to brush the brioche with some thyme butter."
Hannahj: "And I've got the base of the beurre blanc here as well. So into this now, I'm gonna add all that butter, a little bit more if we need to, and a little bit of truffle oil. Actually, it splits out really well. It's really nice. It's like a chicken truffle beurre blanc."
Aktar Islam, talking behind the scenes
"That sauce sounds delicious. The base is delicious. I hope it's executed exactly as I'd want."
Plating
Last to serve is Hannah. With the buttery chicken beurre blanc finished, her preparation is nearly complete.
The confited sea bass is topped with pickled artichoke and oyster leaves. While Mark paints bowls with edible glue.
Each sea bass sits on the artichoke puree and is then garnished with chanterelle, deep fried artichoke and cavalo nero.
After adding a garnish of crispy artiochoke skins, the bowls are sealed.
Aktar Islam: "The cooking of the fish, you are 100% confident that's exactly how you wanted it to be?"
Hannah: "I think possibly less brined."
Peers, talking behind the scenes
"The fish is lovely."
Back in the Judging Room
Aktar Islam: "The sauce. Chicken base. Did you consider adding a bit of acidity at the end?"
Hannah: "I thought, you know what, it's a butter sauce. Make it really buttery. So I did decide against it."
Peers, talking behind the scenes
"Sauce?"
"I really enjoyed it."
Back in the Judging Room
Aktar Islam: "Are you happy with how your breads come out?"
Hannah: "The taste and the crust I absolutely love, but I don't like the center."
Aktar Islam: "How would you score this?"
Hannah: "The brioche is slightly underapproved for me. It's a little bit stodgy. It's an eight."
Final Judging
Aktar Islam: "Hannah, for your dish, "Experience life in the visual world". The confit sea bass is cooked beautifully. It was perfect. The Jerusalem artichoke puree just needed a bit more body. The deep, rich chicken butter sauce, the base was a little over reduced. The brioche, sadly, was a little bit undercooked. If you'd made it a little smaller, I think it would have been bang on."
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