Having moaned considerably about what was then the upcoming Central Region heat of the Great British Menu in Blog 51, I confess I sat down to watch the 3 episode, - starter and fish, main and dessert and deciding play off of the two highest placed chefs - with mild enthralment as three young Midlands-born chefs struggled magnificently to win a place in the national grand final.
Although pre-publicity identified Kray Treadwell as having been born in Solihull the programme itself stated several times that he was from Birmingham - perhaps Solihull's too posh and lacking in street-cred to give rise to a tattooed but very personable kitchen worker. Sabrina Gidda's Wolverhampton origins were stressed by emphasising that her father was the first Asian in Britain to run a pub though, and here's BBC consistency for you, later it was stated that he had been one of the first Asians to run a British pub. Ryan Simpson-Trotman's Nuneaton origins were stressed a number of times. Sadly, despite their West Midlands origins, none of the chefs currently works anywhere in the Central region with two employed in London and the Home Counties and Treadwell working in trendy Leeds although the programme did mention that he had worked for a time with Glynn Purnell.
Things did not get off to a good start with guest judge, Chef Paul Ainsworth of Paul Ainsworth at No 6 in Padstow - a one Michelin starred restaurant - showing a singular lack of enthusiasm for any of the starters giving them only 6 or 7 out of 10 and only Sabrina Gidda wowing the judge with her fish course. Then with the main course Kray Treadwell took over the reins and eventually scored a 10 for his dessert.
As a result of the dessert course, Simpson-Trotman was eliminated and Gidda and Treadwell who looked rather like a young culinary David Beckham complete with numerous tattooes, battled each other in the final with Treadwell winning as a result of his remarkable main and dessert courses. The visual appearance of Treadwell's dishes was very much that which we might quickly identify as originating in the kitchens of trendy chef Michael O'Hare's restaurant Man Behind The Curtain in Leeds. More than once judges remarked the first two courses produced by Treadwell were more style than substance.
His first course was inspired by grime music, which was explained to judge Matthew Fort in the final episode by guest judge veteran Brummie musician Ali Campbell of UB40 as being "British rap" music, though that still leaves me floundering due to the very narrow boundaries of my knowledge of the recent music scene. The dish, called Fire in the Booth was made up of deep fried veal sweetbreads, raw tuna belly, hot sauce, caviar and truffle. Luxurious ingredients but not enjoyed by the final day judges at all with Ali Campbell describing the dish as 'Confusion not fusion' and Oliver Peyton asking "It's rock and roll but is it good rock and roll"
Treadwell's fish course - Disdain For Orthodoxy - turned out to be a disaster. Treadwell said that the dish was inspired by Punk and was made up of turbot, Cornish ray, mussels and oysters. The dish was served on a special plate with a Punk's head incorporated in it and the ray's bone placed to look like the punk's Mohican hair style. Sabrina Gidda after sampling the crunchy ray's bone was heard to say that if she didn't eat it ever again she would not be upset. The Friday final judges, apart from Matthew Fort, found Treadwell's fish course to be rebarbative and there was much screwing-up of faces when they sampled it. Andi Oliver found elements of it - notably the oyster mousse in a stud-like capsule - to be "quite unpleasant" but Matthew Fort, crunching away on the skate bone, described it as being "by far and away the most interesting dish we've eaten today" and said, "I really like this dish, I really love this dish ..."
Treadwell's main course turned the tide in his favour. Naming it Shharonnn! in honour of Brummie Heavy Metal musician Ozzie Osbourne (whose wife is called Sharon) Treadwell included in his dish barbecued Wagu beef blackened with charcoal powder, squid ink- blackened purple potatoes, a "blood-like beef sauce", black American-style scones with grated Stilton, purple potatoes, a red cabbage tuile and a hot sauce. The judges were swept away with delight for the dish and Oliver Peyton described it as "absolutely amazing, that is what turned the competition around for you, the meat was amazing, I loved the biscuit, a genuinely great dish".
And so to Treadwell's dessert - A New Romance - named, rather alarmingly, after Brian Ferry's aftershave though when the judges were sent a sample to sniff Ali Campbell insisted that he had dined with Ferry and he didn't smell like that! The dessert, which had already been awarded 10 points by Paul Ainsworth, was a great success with the judges, being made up as it was, from sous vide-cooked peaches as well as a peach soup which also contained champagne, rose syrup and sea fennel and additionally there was also a sugar tuile containing edible glitter, blow-torched and diced peaches, peach sorbet, white chocolate mousse and edible flowers.
So, The Midlands has an exciting young chef representing us in this year's grand finals. Though it would be even better if Midlands restaurants were also represented in the competition. Perhaps Treadwell will return to the area of his birth in the coming years and I would be very excited to test out his dishes except, of course, he might like to leave his 'Disdain for Orthodoxy' (the dish not the attitude) back in trendy Leeds.
The judges' facial reactions to 'Disdain for Orthodoxy':-
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