‘It’s French onion soup but I’m trying to make it as pretentious as I can,’ quipped charismatic newcomer Lewis Dwyer. In a heat that’s traditionally known for its fire, dragons and, well… heat, this year’s Welsh chefs were a noticeably cool contingent. Lewis, chef patron at Hiraeth in Bridgend, clearly beat his rival Corrin Harrison on the tattoo front, but Corrin proved to have more up his sleeve. Lewis left after his trendy, but ultimately unsuccessful, reworking of a fish finger sandwich.
Veteran chef, Lisa Goodwin-Allen said she was looking for ‘something that’s ground-breaking.’ Nick Rudge, chef patron at The Jackdaw, Conway duly obliged with locally sourced coal. However, despite a pair of impactful retro glasses, he failed to see an early exit coming.
And so, after an all too brief veteran chef debut for the ever-popular Tom Shepherd, who returned to help Lisa judge the fish course, we’re left with an equally popular returner, Larkin Cen, owner of Daily Noodles in Bristol, up against newcomer Corrin.
Corrin, who is head chef at Gwen, Machynlleth, seems very laid back. He says, ‘I’m not looking for the appraisal of anyone else. So, if you don’t like it, then I’m not that bothered to be honest.’ Hmm, we’ll see. His restaurant only seats eight diners, but he’s catering for an even more exclusive group of four today, as regulars Ed, Nisha and Tom are joined by Olympic hurdler Colin Jackson CBE.
The judges begin with Larkin’s canapé of a Chinese potsticker dumpling with mushroom XO, bonito vinegar and XO-infused oil. ‘Cliding’ is Colin’s description of the dumpling, and Tom agrees it’s ‘fairly solid’ but says the XO sauce is ‘just magic.’ ‘Very simple and very lovely’ is Nisha’s assessment of Corrin’s pie tee tart, filled with cured trout, celeriac purée and Iberico pork belly in jalapeno hot sauce. Tom thinks it could only have been improved by another serving of the magical XO sauce.
Larkin’s starter is his take on the classic Sichuan dish of mapo tofu. He drizzles red Sichuan chilli oil over chunky portions of mushroom XO sauce, then adds sautéed enoki and shimeji mushrooms and tofu in a fiery broad bean, ginger, garlic and chilli sauce. The dish is presented in a golden post box, as a nod to the commemorative post boxes painted for the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. Nisha says it’s not overly hot – just ‘scintillating and tantalising.’ Tom agrees the spice levels are ‘beautiful’ but thinks it’s just a bit heavy on the ‘squishy tofu.’ Colin picks up the postal theme and says the flavour ‘delivered.’