Great British Menu 2024: Who's cooking at the final
The 2024 Great British Menu Champion of Champions is set to be revealed tonight.
During finals week, four chefs were chosen to lead each course at the Team GB Banquet in Paris, which will be aired this evening (22 March) on BBC Two.
The dinner is being hosted by the British Ambassador to France at the 18th century British Embassy Residence in Paris and will be attended by 70 guests, many of whom, like Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, Ellie Simmonds and Stuart Robinson, are past and present Olympians and Paralympians.
Ben Palmer, chef-patron of the Sardine Factory in Cornwall, will represent the South West with his winning starter, Firefly, a vegan golden beetroot tart.
Judge Nisha Katona said: "You absolutely blew us away. It's exactly what this competition was all about – the flavour, the spectacle, and the skill and the finesse. It's the best start we could have for this banquet."
Meanwhile, Adam Smith, executive chef at the one Michelin-starred Woven by Adam Smith in Berkshire, will represent Central England with his victorious fish course, Road to Paris, a poached brill with truffle trout mousse.
Judge Tom Kerridge praised it for being a "wonderful representation of British produce".
Kate Austen, a private chef with experience in Gordon Ramsay's development team and formerly the youngest female head chef of the two Michelin-starred AOC in Copenhagen, is representing London and South East England with her winning main, Symposium.
She is the first female chef to cook the main course on Great British Menu since first airing 19 years ago.
Judges described her Greek-inspired dish of stuffed quail, truffle French toast and scotch egg as "magical", "refined" and "beautiful".
Finally, Kirk Haworth, Catey-winning chef-patron of Plates and plant-based chef-consultant at BaxterStorey, is representing the North West, aftering wowing the judges with his vegan dessert, A Taste of Unity.
Kerridge said: "We're looking at one of the best desserts we've ever eaten, and you don't question it for a single minute. It's just the most fantastic, beautiful piece of cookery."
As the highest-scoring runner-up, Corrin Harrison, head chef of Gwen, who represents Wales, was given the opportunity to cook the canapes on the train to Paris.
Kerridge, head judge of Great British Menu, said: "If our winning chefs can pull this one off, they really are superstars. They'll have to show their British dishes can hold their own in Paris, the home of classical fine dining and cooking in the kitchen at the British Embassy Residence is a huge honour for any professional chef, I'm a little bit envious of that."
Image Credit: BBC Media Centre
