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Central Starter

Culinary competition. Three chefs compete in the heat for the central region. Ryan hopes his inventive brown sauce ice cream and pork cheek donuts will impress.

Great British Menu continues as the nation's top professional chefs compete for a chance to cook 'A Feast to Say Thank You' at a glorious banquet celebrating 70 years of the NHS, one of Britain's most prized institutions.

This week, three chefs compete in the heat for the central region. Returner Ryan Simson-Trotman, who failed to reach the national finals last year, is originally from Nuneaton and opened his own restaurant Orwells in the Oxfordshire countryside with his partner Liam, who is also a contestant in the north west region. Newcomer Marianne Lumb has 20 years' experience catering for distinguished clientele who demand perfection. Born in Leicestershire, she worked as a private chef and now runs her own restaurant, Marianne, which seats just 14 and is London's smallest fine-dining restaurant. And fellow first-timer, Wolverhampton-born Sabrina Gidda, is a two-time Roux Scholarship finalist whose fusion cooking combines flavours from all over the world.

After nerves are set on edge when they meet their surprise veteran judge, it is on with their starters. Ryan hopes his inventive brown sauce ice cream and pork cheek donuts will look like a dessert but impress as a starter. Marianne takes inspiration from postwar Britain when the NHS was created for her onion and potato starter, Potato Pete and Tracy Truffle, while Sabrina draws on influences from around the world to honour the 187,000 NHS workers from overseas, and hopes to transform a classic soup into a dish worthy of the banquet.

30 minutes

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Credits

Role Contributor
Executive Producer Tom Clarke
Series Producer Claudine Parrish
Director Phil Ashton
Series Editor Genevieve Welch
Production Company Optomen

Broadcasts

Series 19: Meet the Chefs

Series 19: Meet the Chefs

Find out more about the chefs competing to make it through to the 2024 banquet.