Great British Menu 2013, Northern Ireland Heat Preview

Great British Menu 2013, Northern Ireland Heat Preview

Great British Menu 2013, Northern Ireland Heat Preview

by Mecca Ibrahim3 March 2013

For week six chefs from Northern West will be raising a laugh on The Great British Menu to celebrate the fun of Comic Relief. The chefs’ challenge is to create a menu full of gastronomic delights, but has to make the judges smile too.

Great British Menu 2013, Northern Ireland Heat Preview

For week six chefs from Northern West will be raising a laugh on The Great British Menu to celebrate the fun of Comic Relief. The chefs’ challenge is to create a menu full of gastronomic delights, but has to make the judges smile too.

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Great British Menu, 2013

Mecca worked as head of social media at Great British Chefs and joined at its launch in July 2011.

Mecca worked as head of social media at Great British Chefs and joined at its launch in July 2011. Prior to that, she spent the last eighteen years at some of the biggest and most innovative internet businesses out there (Yahoo, JustGiving, E-How, Moo.com and Joost). She was winning awards for her blog when most people didn't know what a blog was. She also ran the multi-award winning London Underground Tube Diary which launched in 2003.

Mecca worked as head of social media at Great British Chefs and joined at its launch in July 2011.

Mecca worked as head of social media at Great British Chefs and joined at its launch in July 2011. Prior to that, she spent the last eighteen years at some of the biggest and most innovative internet businesses out there (Yahoo, JustGiving, E-How, Moo.com and Joost). She was winning awards for her blog when most people didn't know what a blog was. She also ran the multi-award winning London Underground Tube Diary which launched in 2003.

Over eight weeks twenty four of the finest chefs in the country including many chefs from Great British Chefs site are competing in regional heats for the opportunity to create a four course menu at special banquet at the Royal Albert Hall to celebrate 25 years of Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day.

Representing Northern we’ll see returning contender Chris Fearon from Deanes at Queens, Belfast, competing against his former Head Chef Raymond McArdle - now at Restaurant 23, Warrenpoint and Ian Orr from Browns in Londonderry.

As with previous years, the show follows the familiar format with the chefs cooking a starter, fish course, main course and dessert for a veteran judge who will select two chefs to cook their menu again on Friday’s show for the judges Matthew Fort, Oliver Peyton & Prue Leith. On Friday the three judges will be joined by comedy writer Charlie Higson to see how funny the dishes really are.

This week’s veteran judge and chef mentor is Glynn Purnell whose dishes made it through to banquet in both 2008 and 2009, so he knows the standards required.

Monday’s episode leads with starters. Both Raymond and Chris are preparing soup with surprised in store while Ian will be cooking rabbit.

Fish courses on Tuesday include kippers, turbot, scallop and roe.

On Wednesday the chefs will be tempting Glynn to a Cowboy Supper inspired by the Wild West from Chris Fearon. Titanic Smoked Venison, Tongue and Cheek by Raymond McArdle and Ian Orr will be cooking lamb and baked hay.

Thursday’s desserts include Chris Fearon’s dish inspired by Tommy Cooper called Just Like That (remember Colin McGurran won the North East Heat with his dessert inspired by Tommy Cooper’s fez) Raymond McArdle is making a Chocolate Volcano Mountain. Ian Orr will be hoping his Passion Egg will see him through to the finals on Friday.