The seventh series – The Olympic Feast, will see three chefs from each region create a ‘ground-breaking’ menu fit for Olympic heroes, celebrating the upcoming arrival of the 2012 Olympics.
“Great British Menu has secured the biggest names in the British culinary world,” said Lindsay Bradbury, executive editor for BBC Daytime. “Be prepared for an Olympian rollercoaster of a ride and ground-breaking dishes which take food to giddy new heights.”
Nicola Moody, director of factual programmes for Optomen TV, which produces the show, added: “First class chefs and Olympic athletes have lots in common; Olympians push every boundary of their sport to become winners and chefs work just as hard at their art and are no less determined.
“Every chef competing in Great British Menu wants to win and cooking a dish at the final banquet. Doing so will be their Gold Medal.”
Judges
Great British Menu will also feature a star-studded line-up of judges including Marcus Waering, Jason Atherton, Richard Corrigan and Angela Hartnett.
The chefs will meet British Olympians past and present including Lord Sebastian Coe, Sir Matthew Pinsent and Amir Khan. The eight winning chefs from each region will eventually battle it out to prepare one of the four courses of The Olympic Feast.
Last year’s winning menu
Tom Kerridge, owner of the two-Michelin-starred pub The Hand and Flowers, was the first chef on Great British Menu to cook the main course twice, as well as being the first chef to cook a Pork dish for the Main Course on the final menu, which comprised:
Starter: Season, Shake and Curry On Coronation Chicken - Chris Fearon
Fish Course: Sea Bass with Battered Soft Shell Crab - Aktar Islam
Main Course: Hog Roast - Tom Kerridge
Dessert: Taste of the Fairground - Paul Ainsworth
The full line-up for Great British Menu 2012 is as follows: -
South West, judged by Tom Kerridge
Paul Ainsworth Paul Ainsworth at Number Six, Padstow
Nathan Outlaw St Enodoc Hotel, Cornwall
Simon Hulstone The Elephant, Torquay
North East, judged by Nigel Haworth
Stephanie Moon Rudding Park, Harrogate
Colin McGurran Winteringham Fields, Scunthorpe
Charlie Larkin The Marquis, Kent
Scotland, judged by Jeremy Lee
Alan Murchison L’Ortolan
Mark Greenaway, Restaurant Mark Greenaway, No12 Picardy Place, Edinburgh
Colin Buchan York and Albany, London
North West, judged by Marcus Wareing
Johnnie Mountain The Atrium, Westminster
Aiden Byrne The Church Green, Cheshire
Simon Rogan L’Enclume, Cumbria
Central, judged by Glyn Purnell
Aktar Islam Lasan, Birmingham
Daniel Clifford Midsummer House, Cambridge
Paul Foster Tuddenham Mill, Suffolk
Northern Ireland, judged by Richard Corrigan
Chris Bell Galgorm resort, Ballymena (previously at The Longridge)
Chris Fearon Deanes at Queens, Belfast
Niall McKenna James St South, Belfast
Wales, judged by Angela Hartnett
Richard Davies The Manor House
James Sommerin The Crown at Whitebrook
Stephen Terry The Hardwick, Wales
London / South-East, judged by Jason Atherton
Graham Garrett The West House, Kent
Marcus McGuiness Hibiscus, London
Phil Howard The Square, London
For a full episode guide for the past six series of Great British menu, click here.