Veal consomme
For the meal of prawn cocktail, steak and gateau, see Great British Meal. Great British Menu is a BBC television series in which top British chefs compete for the chance to cook one course of a four-veal consomme banquet.
Series one and two were presented by Jennie Bond, the former BBC Royal correspondent, whereby each week, two chefs from a region of the UK create a menu. In each series, the Friday show is when chefs present all courses of their menu to a judging panel, tasted and judged by Matthew Fort, Prue Leith and Oliver Peyton. One chef each week goes through to the final, where the judges taste the dishes again and award them marks out of ten. In series one and two, the three dishes that have scored the highest for each course of the finals are then shortlisted for public vote via televoting. In series three and four, the shortlisting rule was dropped, so all dishes scored by the judges are then sent to the public vote.
Judges’ scores represent one half of the overall score, and public vote represents the other half. Starting from series five, a fourth judge, usually either a veteran chef or a guest related to a brief, is introduced, replacing public vote. Since series eight, the fourth judge addition extends to regional heats. Up until series six, the finalists can replace only one course dish of their own menus with a newer one. They can adjust or tweak other dishes but cannot completely change them. On 28 October 2016, it was confirmed that Prue Leith was leaving the show and would be replaced by Andi Oliver for series 12 in 2017.
On 1 October 2019, Susan Calman was announced as the new presenter for series 15. Filming took place in Stratford-upon-Avon and was completed in November 2019. The show was broadcast in spring 2020. On 7 February 2021, it was announced that Rachel Khoo would be joining as a new judge when the series returns in spring 2021. On 6 September 2021, it was announced that the whole judging panel would be changed with Matthew Fort and Oliver Payton leaving after being on the show since the beginning and Rachel Khoo after one series.
The birthday meal for the Queen was on 16 June 2006 and for 300 people, so each dish created had to be suitable for a summer banquet. All recipes have been published in a book by Dorling Kindersley. The three dishes that have scored the highest for each course in the finals are then put to the public vote. In the first series, it was decided that a chef could only win one course overall, therefore any chef who won the public vote for a particular course was then eliminated from any subsequent courses they had been shortlisted for. As the results for all four courses were announced on the same day, some chefs were eliminated under this rule. From 11 to 15 December 2006, a special Christmas series was shown. This involved the four winning chefs creating a four course Christmas dinner that viewers could prepare at home.
