Great British Menu ™
Baker:
Season:
Week:
Challenge Type:
Musical Mars
Ashleigh starts with a red pepper tapioca cracker.
Ashleigh: "The mix needs to go on first so it has time to dehydrate."
Ashleigh: "The dish is called Music on Mars. It's inspired by Gustav Holtz, who was a composer born in Cheltenham. He's most well known for his orchestral suite called the Planet Suite. My fish course is going to be inspired by Mars."
Ashleigh: "With the Gurnard, there's going to be a fish sauce, which I've used for the bones. Cornish pastis, which is like a Cornish version of vermouth. Then there's a red pepper tapioca cracker. So that adds texture to the dish and it looks like the reddish texture on Mars. And then there's a saffron, charcoal mayonnaise, a bit smoked, sort of the reddish textures."
Michael Caines: "Is it a bit fiery?"
Ashleigh: "Yes."
Later ...
Ashleigh's charcoal saffron mayonnaise is emulsifying.
Ashleigh: "There's some oil I infused with charcoal earlier, so like literally a coal. Put it in, oil smokes, but you smother it so you don't set it on fire."
And she moves on to lemon caviar for a pop of acidity.
Ashleigh: "The oil's cold, so as soon as it hits the oil and goes down, it should set. Then you'll have teeny, tiny little crunchy lemon balls. I test my patience. Nothing worse than standing here in a time competition, just dropping one by one."
Ashleigh fillets the centerpiece of her dish, the Gurnard.
Ashleigh: "It's quite a meaty fish that hands itself quite well to the dish. Cuz it's got like a nice reddish color which sort of lent into the theme of Mars. And it hit the brief. Just portion that up. Scored it. Check there's no bones. And put that back in the fridge until it's time to serve."
Michael Caines: "Have you got anything for me to taste?"
Ashleigh: "I've got some of the saffron charcoal mayonnaise for you to taste. It is a mayonnaise and then there's saffron and then charcoal infused oil. Then I've just added a little bit. I Didn't want it to be too overpowering."
Michael Caines, speaking to the camera behind the scenes
"Ashleigh's mayonnaise. The saffron was in big strands, so you're going to get a lot of that hitting in the mouth, so we'll see."
Plating
Ashleigh fries gurnard at the last minute She plates it along with tapioca crackers and a lemon and saffron caviar. Compressed fennel.
The bowls are smoked and then good to go.
Michael Caines: "Are you pleased with the cooking on the fish?"
Ashleigh: "Yes, I am happy with the cooking on the fish."
Michael Caines: "And the skin?"
Ashleigh: "It's gone a bit soggy when we put the sauce on it. Maybe that's something I need to look at."
Peers, tasting behind the scenes
"Little salty on the fish."
"This is like, weirdly dry and I'm not sure why it's odd."
"I like this whole fennel underneath."
Back in the judging room
Ashleigh: "I think the fennel brings a nice freshness and texture to the dish and sort of lifts it.
Michael Caines: "And the tapioca crisp?"
Ashleigh: "Happy with that. But again, maybe that's something I need to look at serving on the side so people eat it with it rather than it getting knocked off and going soggy.
Peers, tasting behind the scenes
"My favorite bit is the cracker, actually."
"Cracker is really nice."
Final Judging
Micheal Caines: "Ashleigh, your dish. Music and Mars. Loved it. Thought the presentation was brilliant. The sauce was superb. It carried the dish really well. Gurnard is a difficult fish to cook. I think you struggled with the skin to get it crispy, which is a shame. The cracker was lovely and then wonderful pearls of lemon. They were just superb. But I think they'd be better floating in the sauce rather than on top of that cracker because they were so delicious."
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