Great British Menu ™
Baker:
Season:
Week:
Challenge Type:
The Mountain Provides
Mark: "I'm laying out some wild boar pancetta that I cured a little while back. The title of the dish is "The Mountain Provides", and it's inspired by a writer called Nan Shepherd, who wrote an amazing nature book called the Living Mountain, which was about her relationship with the Cairngorm Mountains.'
"This is some wild boar pancetta. Going to use that to protect the loin of the venison as I cook it. Venison liver parfait will have a rich mushroom and moss puree. We're going to do smoked boar fat crumpets to go with the parfait.
Aktar Islam: "That sounds incredible. Absolutely amazing. And I'm guessing it's all going to come together with a really powerful sauce as well?"
Mark: "Yeah, absolutely. Just a nice rich venison sauce finished with some of that crispy pancetta and some fresh bilberries."
Notes taken during cooking
Having wrapped his venison loin in his home cured pancetta with plenty of Scottish mountain herbs, Mark starts his sauce by simmering shallots and venison off cuts with brandy and port in a venison stock."
Aktar Islam: "Venison loin is actually very delicate. He can very easily overcook it, so that's something that he needs to keep an eye on."
Mark's making a mushroom and moss puree, having roasted chestnut mushrooms and deglazed them with whiskey. They're added to shots of moss and stock before being blitzed.
Mark: "I'm going to fry off the liver now for the parfait."
Aktar Islam: "This here mushroom and moss puree. I'd really love to try this."
Mark: "Absolutely. Might just get it a little glossier as well, but flavor wise is is like 90% there."
Aktar Islam, talking to the camera
"Mark's mushroom puree? I'm in two minds about it. I'd love to see the flavor of mushroom just a bit more pronounced."
Plating
Mark pipes his parfait before removing the pancetta from his barbecued venison. It's then added to the sauce.
Mark: "Just searing the venison off. It's cooked already."
The sourdough crumpets are cooked in smoked pork fat.
Foraged reindeer moss is pan fried with girolle mushrooms.
Mushroom and moss puree is plated before being garnished with pickled celeriac and girolles.
Wild flowers and truffle are added.
Bilberries are added to the sauce. Crumpets go on the plate and the venison is carved.
Aktar Islam: "The venison loin, are you happy with the croissant of the venison?"
Mark; "It's a little uneven."
Peers, tasting behind the scenes
"It's really interesting technique."
"Wrapping it in the panetta and then finishing in the pan. I thought that was a really lovely progression, actually."
Back in the judging room
Aktar Islam: "The crumpet, Does that almost feel like an afterthought?"
Mark; "I think it's akin to serving a bread course with a plate of food."
Peers, tasting behind the scenes
Crumpets. The bit is brilliant, isn't it? It's unreal. It's like a cloud.
Back in the judging room
Aktar Islam: "Your sauce is quite a meaty sauce. The flavor of it. Is it deep and robust enough?"
Mark; "Yeah, I think it has a nice depth of flavor to it."
Peers, tasting behind the scenes
"The sauce, the balances is really, really good."
Final Judging
Aktar Islam: "Mark, for your dish, "The Mountain Provides". The presentation was spectacular. The way you cooked the venison loin, that imparted a really nice flavor to the crust. The sauce was fantastic. The crumpet, well, it was fluffy and tasty. But I think you can work harder in getting more flavor into that parfait. I think you need to up the portion size because it is for a banquet."
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