Thank you feast fit to honour NHS
Great British Menu
BBC2, 7.30pm
IN JUNE and early July, it felt like the television schedules were dominated by two things – the World Cup and programmes marking the 70th anniversary of the NHS. Well, the tournament is over, but the health service’s birthday celebrations are continuing as Great British Menu returns to let the nation’s top chefs pay their own tribute.
That’s because the prize on offer is the opportunity to serve up one of their dishes at A Feast To Say Thank You, a banquet celebrating one of Britain’s best-loved institutions.
As regular Great British Menu viewers will know, the series began in 2006, when the banquet was in honour of the Queen’s 80th birthday. Since then, the competitors have gone on to create dishes fit for producers of British food, Olympians, D-day veterans and the Women’s Institute.
But it seems there’s something about this year’s theme that has proved particularly inspiring. Judge Oliver Peyton says: “The joy in everyone’s hearts involved in this competition was amazing. All the chefs wanted to be at the final banquet because, like everybody else, we owe the people who work in the NHS a huge debt of gratitude.”
His fellow expert Matthew Fort adds: “I can’t think of a better group of people to celebrate series 13 with than the heroes of the NHS, and luckily for us judges the standard of the food is higher than ever.”
The third member of the panel is Andi Oliver. She joined last year as a replacement for Prue Leith, who had defected to The Great British Bake Off, and she’s certainly excited about this year’s NHS theme. She says: “I am so absolutely thrilled to be returning to GBM and when I heard that this year we would be celebrating the extraordinary people who work in our beloved
NHS I jumped for joy.”
But just how will the chefs manage to make delicious and original dishes that stick to the NHS brief? Last year’s banquet was to mark 140 years of Wimbledon, leading to lots of strawberries and cream, as well as a smattering of pineapple desserts in reference to the men’s singles trophy and even a couple of dishes in honour of Rufus, the hawk who clears the courts of pigeons. Some sceptical viewers may be wondering if hospital food will prove quite so inspiring.
Luckily, as the competition gets under way with the north-east regional heats, it seems chefs Danny Parker, Dan Fletcher and David Coulson have found a way to bring a taste of the NHS to their starters, with two of them looking to the restorative powers of the humble cup of tea, while the third celebrates the organ donation scheme with an offal-themed dish.
But who will make it through to Friday’s regional final and be in with a chance of cooking at the banquet, which in a new twist will also see the diners crown a Champion of Champions as they vote for their favourite course?