The London/South East heat of Great British Menu 2016 saw the return of Mark Froydenlund, head chef at Marcus Wareing’s two Michelin star restaurant Marcus in The Berkeley.

Competing against him were newcomers Ronnie Murray (formerly group head chef at Hix Restaurants) and Russell Bateman, head chef at Colette’s at The Grove. Russell joked that he would least like Richard Corrigan to be the veteran judge for their heat and guess who walked through the door?!

Russell is no stranger to a Michelin restaurant kitchen, having previously worked at the likes of  Gordon Ramsay's Pétrus and Daniel Clifford's Midsummer House. It was clear that his food style would differ significantly from Ronnie’s, who now runs a monthly supper club ‘Peckham Manor’ from his home in London.

Hoping to get a dish to the Banquet this year, Mark was first up with his starter – a contemporary and playful take on the classic Bubble & Squeak. A rather complicated dish, Mark was working with several elements including a cabbage, potato and ham hock croquette and pork jowls cooked in beer and cider.

Introducing some rather technical cooking, Mark used maltose to make a sweet crackling, which would pop when added to hot oil. He also combined whiskey, spices and agar to make a piccalilli gel. Also on Mark’s plate were pickled cauliflower and cabbage, shredded spring onion, cep powder and the cooking juice from his pork jowls.

Richard thought this was a beautifully presented and elegant dish. He liked the croquette and piccalilli combination but felt overall that the dish needed an earthy flavour to balance out the sweetness.

Former National Chef of the Year Russell Bateman was preparing a rather unconventional starter using Cumberland sausages and a fishy consommé! He opted to serve his seafood (native oysters, diver caught scallops and Grimsby smoked haddock) raw. These would be lightly cooked when the broth was added. Russell did however very briefly poach his Colchester oysters in apple juice beforehand to give them a bit of flavour. He made balls of sausage meat for texture and these were joined by brown sauce, apple, seafood and nasturtium leaves.

‘From Humble Beginnings’ was a dish representing the moment that a Great Briton gets their letter from Buckingham Palace. The bowls were served in presentation boxes with the letter on top and the hot sausage broth in jugs on the side.

>>> More sausage recipes can be found here...

Richard Corrigan is a big fan of oysters (he has his own oyster bar in London!) and he felt that Russell’s were overcooked. He added that the brown sauce had been lost in the dish but called all the other elements ‘magical’.

Ronnie Murray had spent a lot of time in the library above the restaurant prior to the show, researching his dishes in old cookbooks. His menu was a look at some of British historic dishes, starting with rook pie. As it is now illegal to shoot rook commercially, Ronnie was cooking pigeon – mincing the leg meat, pan frying the breast and using the carcass to make a gravy. He too was using brown sauce but did not make his own like Russell did – he simply added it to the gravy at the end. He also chose to incorporate pigeon livers into the mince, despite advice from his previous boss Mark Hix who said they might be too strong a flavour.

Ronnie’s ‘Mock Rook Pie’ was a bit like shepherd’s pie. He baked Duke of York potatoes before scooping them out and deep frying the shells.  He topped them with the mince and confit leg, then poured over the gravy and placed the breast on top. Also on the plate were some swede balls and root vegetables cooked in butter.

>>> More pigeon recipes here...

Richard said that he could not see this dish at the Banquet. He said Ronnie should lose the brown sauce but added that the pigeon was cooked beautifully and the potato reminded him “how good something so simple can be”.

Scores for the London/South East starter were a six for Ronnie, a seven for Mark and an eight to Russell.

Judge Richard Corrigan loves fish and has a fish restaurant (Sea Grill in Harrods) so the pressure was really on for the London chefs as they went into the Fish course.

Current leader Russell had been inspired by the Notting Hill Carnival and chose to put a taste of the Caribbean in his dish. He was cooking Cornish lobster three ways using jerk spices and highlights of pineapple and coconut to pack the flavours in.

He served the dish in three stacked serving dishes containing ingredients. On the top, a canape-style lobster knuckle cooked in jerk butter, garnished with lobster emulsion and crispy artichoke served on a bed of spices. The second serving contained jerk lobster tail with an artichoke and coconut milk puree, charred pineapple and coconut shavings. On the base were lobster tail, claw and coconut milk dumplings in a soup with diced pineapple.

>>> Plenty of lobster recipes here...

Richard wasn’t sure about the flavours initially but said that it was “mind blowing” and very original.

Ronnie Murray was cooking Colchester rock oysters. Was this a bit of a risk with Richard as their judge? He prepared the oysters at three different temperatures – warm, chilled and frozen. The raw ones were topped with a Bloody Mary frozen granita and garnished with freshly chopped celery leaf. The chilled oysters were served in a gin and tonic jelly. Ronnie deep fried the remaining oysters in crispy angel hair pastry at the last minute, which he served with a spicy mayonnaise.

>>> Looking for more oyster recipes?

While Richard felt that Ronnie had cooked them perfectly, he said that there was a bit too much alcohol and this overpowered the fishy flavours.

Mark Froydenlund decided to pay tribute to the men and women of the RNLI for his fish course, ‘Duty Calls’. He lightly cured and roasted cod in lots of butter before topping it with a mussel garnish. He prepared a potato mousse and crispy ‘potato crumbs’ to go with the fish, as well as a flavoursome take on ketchup using chilli and ginger and a parsley and pea sauce. This was not just fish and chips!

The idea behind the dish was when duty calls for the volunteers, that they may have to interrupt their dinner. Mark donned a life jacket at service and Richard said that really liked this story behind the dish. 

Unfortunately, Richard felt that the cod was slightly overcooked and he said the potato mousse got lost. He did however really like the other ‘sauces’ using tomato and pea.

Richard was completely overwhelmed by Russell’s fish course and scored him a perfect ten. He gave Ronnie an eight and said that with a few tweaks, his oysters could be at the Banquet. Mark got the lowest score of the day with a seven. Russell said that “nuances of cooking times should be spot on for a chef of your calibre”.

There was no easing up on our London competitors - the region has previously produced five Great British Menu Banquet winners! Last year, London/South East chef Matt Gillan had a winning main course – could another chef from the region do the same this year?

Mark Froydenlund seemed to be feeling the pressure more than his peers, having received a nine for his main course the year before. His dish ‘A Celebration of Rose Veal’ was a tribute to British farmers and how their quality produce has helped to transform British food over the years. He poached and roasted his rack of veal, then vacuum packed the eye cooking it in a marinade in the water bath. The sauce had a barbecue base but resembled a classic jus.

He accompanied his meat with ‘spring like’ vegetables, including fresh chestnuts, carrots rolled in pine nuts, broccoli florets, braised stems and carrot powder. Mark finished the dish with black garlic puree. He served his veal rib on a sizzle platter, garnished with more pine nuts, carrot powder, crispy broccoli and chick weed. His veal sauce in jugs on the side, he also placed a commemorative plaque with the dish – from a farmer who lost cattle in the Foot and Mouth crisis.

>>> We've got some veal recipes for you to try...

Richard said that Mark took a brave risk in taking on the veal but he loved what he did with it! He called it a stunning dish with personality and said that all of the cooking was spot on. Richard particularly liked the carrots - "what flavour!" 

Currently well in the lead, Russell Bateman said there was still “no room for complacency” as he began his dish ‘Modesty Meets Royalty’. Based on the moment that a Great Briton meets the Queen for the first time, Russell was cooking modest ingredients but hoping to elevate them to Banquet standard. He started by braising beef cheek in treacle before cooking it sous vide. He smoked bone marrow and made sourdough breadcrumb cooked in beef dripping. He also caramelised a beef fillet before finishing it with the treacle and a spice mix. 

He called it a ‘posh beef dinner’ and paired the meat with salt-baked treacle Chantenay carrots, crispy kale and a carrot puree. Also on the plate was a watercress tarragon and parsley oil. Russell served his treacle braising juice in individual jugs and presented Richard with antique knives on a ceremonial cushion.

>>> Lots of tasty Scotch beef recipes here...

Richard called the beef “fantastic” but he said the cheek was a little stringy. He said each other element was cooked perfectly and really liked the sourdough crust.

Ronnie’s dish featured two eight-bone racks of lamb, tied together in a ‘Crown of Honour’. In