Great British Menu ™
Baker:
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Challenge Type:
Taught by Nature
Jack: "The dish is called "Taught by Nature". William Wordsworth was known for writing poems about talking about the beauty of the Lake District. He mentions how you could just sit there and look at nature and what he could learn from it."
Jack: "Trout. All I'm going to do is I'm going to slightly confit it. I'm going to finish it with a blowtorch. Add a little bit of depth to the delicate trout."
Paul Ainsworth: "Yeah, yeah. Lovely. Is the fennel part of the salad?"
Jack: "Yeah, very much so. So I've got some fennel, nasturtium, tuiles, and then also we've got a nice fennel salad with some fermented green tomatoes as a relish. Underneath it, a little bit of apple to pop through."
Notes taken during cooking
Jack's preparing the oil, which he'll confit his fish in. He toasts spices, juniper, coriander, fennel and star anise before adding the pomace oil.
Plating
Last to plate is Jack.
Liv: "Are you happy with the trout?"
Jack: "I think it should be okay, cuz it's confited. I'm looking for it to flake apart."
The green tomato fermented relish is first to the plate. It's topped with fennel vermouth salad.
Jack positions the trout and garnishes with a potato butterfly tuille. He garnishes with pickled fennel seeds, nasturtium, tagetes (also known as marigold), and dill flowers to evoke a spring meadow. And the light herby barigoule sauce is served alongside.
Paul Ainsworth: "Okay, let's start with that trout, Jack."
Jack: "Yeah, it's exactly how I wanted it."
Paul Ainsworth: "And in terms of the confit?"
Jack: "I think you can taste the juniper and the anise aromats that I was looking for."
Peers, tasting Jack's trout dish
"Wow, I really like that."
"It's delicious."
Back in the judging room ...
Paul Ainsworth: "The fermented green tomato and apple, is that how you wanted it?"
Jack: "If I'm being hypercritical, I'd remove some of the tomato, add a little bit more apple."
Paul Ainsworth: "Barigoule sauce, anything you'd change?"
Jack: "I'm personally very happy with how this came out."
Peers, tasting Jack's trout dish
"Everything that's on the plate has, you know, its own place on the plate. It's just perfectly balanced."
Back in the judging room ...
Paul Ainsworth: "Jack, if you were going to score this dish?"
Jack: "I think I'd give this an eight."
Paul Ainsworth: " So you've deducted yourself two points?"
Jack: "The apple not coming through enough. And maybe try and get a little bit more texture on there."
Final Judging
Paul Ainsworth: "Jack, for your dish, Taught by Nature, you celebrated nature on a plate around William Wordsworth. I think you could make the point even more forcefully. The confit trout was spot on. Your barigoule sauce, divine. And those pickled fennel seeds were excellent. Everything had a place, even the butterflies. They had that lovely biscuity, buttery flavor. For this to be banquet worthy, just tell your story even more."
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