Great British Menu ™
Baker:
Season:
Week:
Challenge Type:
Tomato Tartare with a Seed Tuile
Lacto-Fermented Tomato Tartare with Sunflower and Poppy Seed Tuile, Kelp and Elderberry Broth
James prepares tomatoes lacto-fermented at 2% salt and briefly dehydrated before service. He makes a sunflower and poppy seed tuile: 'I have mixed my poppy seeds, sunflower seeds, my sugar, flour, melted butter, orange juice, and glucose.' Separately he makes a tomato glaze and two broths - one from kelp and one from reduced elderberry. James on the flavor intent: 'I want the dish to be really powerful in terms of sweet sour umami. Like a punch in the face almost.' On the broths: 'I think the elderberry is the more prominent, but the kelp there is just to round everything out.' The tuile is topped with tomato paste and covered in edible flowers: apple blossom, cherry blossom, marigold and wood sorrel. Smoked oil is added at the pass. Spencer tastes the tomato glaze mid-prep: 'It didn't really have much flavor. I'm just really struggling to understand what's happening with this dish.'
At the pass, James clarifies the tomatoes are lacto-fermented rather than a traditional tartare.
{Ash}: 'The fermented tomato was seasoned well.'
{Nikita}: 'For me, the seasoning was maybe a tiny bit high, I think, from the kombu.'
{Louisa}: 'I don't feel like it's a complete dish.' The tuile came out thicker than James intended.
Peer-estimated scores at the pass: 6 from Louisa, 6 from Ash, 6 from Nikita, 8 from Spencer.
VETERAN ROUND: Score 4 out of 10. 'I like the presentation and where you took it, but honestly, I just wanted more. The fermented tomato had no depth of flavor. There are hundreds of varieties of tomatoes out there. A chef of your caliber would have been expected to select a perfect tomato for this dish. The tomato glaze itself, I didn't think had much flavor. The sunflower and poppy seed tuile was a great idea. However, it was just far too thick. Overall, I found this dish quite unrefined.'
JUDGING ROUND: Pending transcript.
Would you like us to create a recipe to match this dish?
We try to create several recipes every day, and we'd love to prioritize a recipe for you. Just fill out the form and watch your inbox - no cost, no catch.
