The BBC have announced the chefs that will take part Great British Menu 2015, beginning later this summer.
Those competing for the prize include Josh Eggleton, head chef at Pony and Trap, Lee Westcott, head chef at Typing Room and Mark Froydenlund, head chef at Marcus in The Berkeley. Judges include award-winning critic Matthew Fort, doyenne of British cookery Prue Leith, and restaurateur Oliver Peyton.
The chefs will compete for the chance to cook at Drapers Hall, London, at a banquet marking 100 years of the Women’s Institute. The challenge will be to produce 21st century dishes that pay tribute to the generations of women who have contributed to Britain’s culinary world. Judge, Matthew Fort, said: “All good cooking begins in the home.
That's why the WI has been so important to food in this country. It has established and maintained the highest of standards for home cooking. “But great home cooking won't be enough to get a dish to the Banquet at this year's GBM. Any dish must honour the standards of the WI, but also build on them with imagination and skill to create a masterpiece of modern gastronomy.”
The regional heats will see the chefs plating up for some of Britain’s most accomplished chefs and veterans of the competition. Successful competitors will then present their menus to Matthew, Prue and Oliver. Each week, the judging panel will also include a guest judge – longstanding WI members, mothers and home cooks, who will ensure the dishes going forward measure up to the standards of the institute.
Prue Leith said: “Chefs in this country, and in fact the whole British restaurant scene, owe a great debt to the WI. They were the original home economists, teaching us how to grow fantastic produce and get the most from our ingredients. For a century, the women of the WI have been a pioneering force for change and for good in this country.
Who would have thought 100 years on that most ladies at Seven Hills WI in Sheffield are in their late 20s, with over 100 names on the waiting list! Any organisation which has done what the WI has done over the last century of campaigning and cooking should be celebrated.” The Women’s Institute was formed in 1915 to revitalise rural communities and to encourage women to produce food for the nation during the First World War. A century later, the Institute is synonymous with British home cooking.
Matt Worswick, The Lawns Restaurant, Thornton Hall
Mark Ellis, 1851 Restaurant at Peckforton Castle
Matt Gillan at The Pass, South Lodge Hotel
Lee Westcott, Typing Room
Mark Froydenlund, Marcus
Pip Lacey, Murano
Richard Bainbridge, Benedict’s
Jason Hodnett, Raven Hotel
By Lewis Treleaven
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