Food, Food, Glorious Food ... What could possibly go wrong ...?

Twenty four of our finest up and coming chefs, from eight regions of the UK have battled it out to cook at a celebratory feast for one hundred people at the Assembly Rooms in Bath, sourcing their ingredients from local producers near to other National Trust estates.

The chosen four were selected for their expertise, standard of cooking, their selection and use of locally sourced produce that truly reflected a magnificent feast fit for our future King. The heats began, winners were selected from each region, then pitted against each other in a cook off – with the judges holding sway over the ultimate choice of menu & thus chef selection. Nothing could be left to chance .. or could it .. it is 2010 ...

The four winning chefs:

Kenny Atkinson(North West), Tom Kerridge(London and South East), Lisa Allen (North East) and Niall McKenna(Northern Ireland).

The Banqueting Hall, Assembly Rooms, Bath

National Trust properties ... castles, estates, halls and houses .. were selected as the ‘home base’ for respective chefs to find new producers and source local ingredients from the grounds, or the vicinity. A daunting task – finding new first class suppliers .. but to the chefs’ surprise there are lots of wonderful farmers, vegetable, herb and fruit suppliers, game keepers, fishermen - all determined to keep our food heritage alive.

The Prince of Wales was going to preside as President of the National Trust, but more importantly as the nation’s long-time advocate of local and seasonal food, over the banquet. A hundred of the nation’s men and women who toil to put the finest local British produce on the map were to be the guests of honour, intermingled with veteran chefs and dignitaries.

HRH The Prince of Wales has spent 30 years transforming the grounds of Highgrove into what have been acknowledged as some of the most inspired and innovative gardens in the UK. His Royal Highness’s strict adherence to organic and sustainable methods has helped create gardens which are both magical and intriguing while being environmentally sound; encouraging both plants and wildlife to thrive.

Would we have asparagus crowns, crayfish scotch eggs, wild brown trout with wood scented wild sorrel, crowns of lamb roast, wild trout, roast beef, rose scented cheesecake with crystallised rose petals .. or to to cheer the cockles of your heart .. haslet (pig’s ear & other ogans – an old fashioned recipe not wasting anything!) and – and – and wonders of wonders lamb’s testicles .. these scored first place, but the chef did not get through – phew?! Apparently they tasted wonderful.

The Prince of Wales was briefed on who the chefs would be with their chosen dishes, remarking on the huge renaissance in British local produce and the desire not to lose any of our native breeds, or precious resources to be found in the hedgerows, in ancient orchards and woodlands, which the BBC with this programme is encouraging us all to use local ingredients and support our suppliers.

The Prince was very interested in the resulting menu commenting on the fact that the rabbit was wild, mackerel and gooseberries were a traditional ancient mix and he remembers as a child going fishing for them, Aylesbury duck an interesting choice, and finally that honey was being used in the dessert – remembering that Barbara Cartland used to say ‘a spoonful of honey a day keeps you warm and loveable’!

The Assembly Rooms in Bath with its imposing Banqueting Hall were chosen to host the event. Built in 1771 they were at the heart of fashionable Georgian Society and described as ‘the most noble and elegant of any in the kingdom’, which still applies to today, as the perfect venue fit for a Royal Banquet.

Gooseberries

Cooking in a new kitchen, as the chefs had encountered in the heats, with different equipment, no control over temperatures of the fridges, freezers and ovens – mix ups occurring – meant on occasions frozen foods rather than chilled, burnt pans, or ovens too low ... the joys of being a chef!

Tom had only ever cooked one or two banquets .. so suddenly cooking for one hundred was a little daunting ... the size of the kitchens and spoon bemused him ... had arrived first on preparation day as his dish was the most complicated. His ducks arrived at the same time .. so he was happy.

Later in the day the other chefs arrived ... where were the rabbits, the mackerels and the strawberries? The rabbit loins arrived .. and to Lisa’s delight they were the right size. Kenny was onto the fish supplier – the North Sea was still extremely cold, so the mackerel were still in southern waters keeping warm ... however the fish supplier had decided he had to drive down to Cornwall to source the mackerel .. but they were still elusive. The clock was ticking.

As for Niall, from Northern Ireland, the strawberries had hardly started pollinating .. so he had to ring round and find strawberries in the Bath area ... and then leave the kitchen to make sure the flavour matched up. I really felt for Kenny and Niall .. not an easy thing to have to deal with – as their reputations were on the line & the feast had to be fit for a future King.

Richard Waller's Aylesbury Duck Farm

Kenny only got his mackerel the day of the banquet .. and they were smaller, which meant he needed to rethink his cooking method. So those northerly winds bringing us that volcanic ash, which I’ve been complaining about as it’s been bitterly cold, meant that Mother Nature was ruling the waves and the strawberries!

For the first time one of our winners was a woman – so that is excellent news, and Lisa (north west England) was first up with her “wild rabbit and leek turnover, with piccalilli”; – wild rabbits caught by the gamekeeper from one of the National Trust’s estates, the salad and herb suppliers seeing their produce from the north served up;

Kenny (north east region) had found an old recipe for “line caught mackerel with gooseberries” – something I remember from my childhood; that enterprising fisherman who saved Kenny’s bacon (mackerel really!), the gooseberry supplier who said she didn’t like gooseberries but relished Kenny’s old fashioned recipe, which also had gooseberry jelly;

then we had Tom (London and south east) serving “Aylesbury Duckling in two ways” .. slow cooked sliced breasts, potted leg, with thrice-cooked duck-fat chips, served with a jug of gravy, topped off with peas, little gems, and pea shoots; the Aylesbury Ducks are reared in an apple orchard, surrounded by bluebells and hawthorn, in amongst an ancient beech wood: a family owned business since 1775

followed by Niall from Northern Ireland presenting “Poached rhubarb with strawberry jelly, yellow man and lavender ice cream” – yellow man is a traditional sponge toffee (above) (‘honeycomb’ or ‘sea foam’ in the US .. funny name?), ... which that delicious rich delicate lavender ice cream, having been coated with the crushed yellow man, was then placed inside cylindrical caramel tuiles.

The whole event represented the pillars of British cooking – but neither the Prince, suppliers nor producers knew of or could have imagined the challenges the chefs had in the kitchens .. all appeared to go smoothly and everyone waxed lyrical over their dishes .. as I would – my mouth waters with eager anticipation .. but only a cup of coffee is about due!

Montisfont Priory(1201) has beautiful kitchen gardens

The suppliers had all really stretched themselves to provide the produce ... against the odds in 2010 ... the chefs had worked wonders with local ingredients, and after competing against each other had worked together as a team to honour the guests with this scintillating dinner.

Celebrations were complete with a few glasses of English sparkling wine and the satisfaction of knowing that our British way of life is striving to retain its food culture through sustainability and deliverability, by our budding chefs being so creative with the seasonal and local produce available.

The recipes from all the series can be found here ... enjoy! Pictures are elusive!

Dear Mr Postman .. I enjoyed seeing our traditional recipes brought to life with new twists and my mother, who was an excellent cook, would have loved to talk about this too – but we cannot as her hearing is still not back. We were practically self-sufficient from the garden when I was growing up .. so this series brought back lots of memories.

We did watch the two Paris Open tennis finals .. which gave her something different to focus on & on Sunday she knew what was happening – her brain is ‘complete’ .. just challenging she can’t hear & she won’t repeat what she’s said .. in fact wanted to write! – but it’s one word at a time ... but I can’t read that either .. and she won’t say the word ... an “impossibly frustrating” situation ... I just laugh it away... best thing to do ...

Hilary Melton-Butcher
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