In this episode, the chefs are halfway through the regional heats and, as the lowest scoring chef will be eliminated from the competition at the end of the show, the pressure is on. They start by cooking their all-important main courses - the centrepiece of the banquet menu.
Michelin-starred newcomer Hrishikesh Desai is pushing himself to the limit with a complex multi-part venison dish, inspired by the bands which play at the Kendal Calling music festival, held near his restaurant in the Lake District. Laidback Liam Trotman is desperate to impress with a meal he used to enjoy with his family while playing music at home - spicy barbequed pork with wedges. This deeply personal dish is also very simple so needs to be cooked to perfection to be deemed worthy of the banquet. Meanwhile proud Mancunian Adam Reid’s course, Comfort Food Sounds Good, is based around a deceptively simple chicken stew – but he is hoping its comforting, homely vibe can secure him a place at the banquet.
After the competition tightens up during the main courses, the chefs turn to their final chance to impress the veteran judge - dessert. Liam’s dish, What’s Your Guilty Pleasure?, hopes to tap into the music diners wouldn’t admit to liking, and is based around the flavours of his own guilty pleasure dessert of black forest gateau. Adam Reid is serving another remake of a classic Northern dish - this time he is resurrecting the treacle tart and naming it Madchester: I Am the Resurrection, in homage to a track by Mancunian band The Stone Roses. Meanwhile Hrishikesh is attempting another highly complex dish, with no less than 13 elements. Perfecting them all could see him secure a place in the national final – but has he pushed himself too far this time?
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