Professional chefs from across Kent put their skills to the test against amateur chefs, seeing what dishes each can create with the same locally sourced ingredients.
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - Hello, and welcome to Slice of Kent.
00:21 I'm your host, Hannah Marabay,
00:22 and this is the show where we compare dishes
00:25 made by amateur chefs against dishes
00:27 created by trained professionals from across the county
00:30 using the same locally sourced ingredients.
00:33 This week, we had George, our resident foodie,
00:36 visiting the two Rosette-winning restaurants, Finbars,
00:39 where he found out more about the restaurant
00:41 and sees what their head chef is able to put together
00:43 using this week's ingredients.
00:45 Let's have a look.
00:46 - I'm George, and today we're at Finbars Restaurant.
00:48 We're gonna learn a little bit about their business,
00:50 learn about the importance of buying local,
00:52 and we're gonna challenge them to make a dish
00:53 with three specially chosen ingredients by yours truly.
00:57 What ingredients, you ask?
00:58 Rainbow trout, lemon, and fennel seeds.
01:01 Let's see if they're up to the task.
01:03 Now, before the main event,
01:05 I took some time to speak to owners Kate and Alan
01:08 about what it means to run a restaurant
01:10 that boasts an impressive two Rosettes,
01:13 and of course, the importance of buying local produce.
01:17 - I think coming to a restaurant
01:18 is a bit like a kind of a whole experience.
01:20 It's not really, you know, people now want to come in,
01:22 they want to feel welcome, they want to, you know,
01:25 they really want to feel like you want them there,
01:27 and we really do.
01:28 Well, our food is sourced locally,
01:30 everything is of top quality,
01:32 and our chefs are fantastic.
01:35 - We came here about 12, 13 years ago,
01:37 and we, about five years ago,
01:39 we decided to get planned permission
01:41 to try and build a restaurant here,
01:43 'cause of the views, really.
01:44 We firmly believe that you should try and buy as local
01:49 as much, because we're all kind of trying
01:51 to support each other at the moment.
01:53 - Next, I spoke to head chef, Dwayne Richmond,
01:57 on his personal journey as a chef,
01:58 but the real question is, can all his experience
02:01 prepare him for today's challenge?
02:04 - Kate and Alan have very sort of great trust in me,
02:10 in a sense that I can change up
02:12 at whatever one on the menu, which I like,
02:14 so I can't see myself going anywhere anytime soon.
02:18 I've been chef a long time, probably over 10 years now.
02:20 My parents sort of pushed me in the right direction.
02:23 Then I went to work for Marco P.R. White
02:26 in East Sussex for like three years,
02:28 and then went to work for Gordon Ramsay
02:30 in London for two years.
02:31 I use everything local, again, fish is from Deal,
02:35 my meat is from Canterbury, and again,
02:38 some of the veg alone in Fanny is brilliant.
02:40 - Do you feel up to the task?
02:41 Do you feel confident?
02:43 - Yeah, no, it can be done, yeah.
02:44 I'm sure I'm gonna get that done.
02:46 - For the ingredients, Dwayne is of course using
02:49 the rainbow trout, lemons, and fennel seeds,
02:52 but has also opted to add salads
02:54 such as microleaf, limes, and ginger.
02:59 The dish he's creating is a ceviche,
03:01 which he described himself as how to cook a fish
03:04 in lemon juice without having to use a pan.
03:07 As shown, Dwayne cuts the lemons and limes in half
03:13 and proceeds to juice them.
03:14 He takes the juice and places it in a bowl.
03:17 He then uses a mandolin to thinly cut the pickled cucumber
03:20 and then halves each slice.
03:22 The trout is then sliced and placed into the bowl
03:30 of lemon and lime juice to cook.
03:32 Let's hear what Dwayne has to say.
03:39 - Trout is quite a fatty fish,
03:43 probably not so much rainbow trout,
03:45 but yeah, it still can be quite fatty,
03:47 so for citrus or pickled or something like that,
03:50 I just think it cuts through it really
03:52 and just helps the dish a little bit more.
03:54 - Now it's time to plate, and it looks delicious.
03:59 (upbeat music)
04:02 Bon appétit.
04:21 - Wow, and there you have it.
04:26 This is the final product.
04:27 Peter and Hannah, you guys got your work out for you.
04:30 So I mean, without further ado,
04:31 I think I'm just gonna tuck in really.
04:33 Yeah, you guys got a tough challenge ahead of you guys.
04:46 It's gonna be a tough challenge.
04:47 This is amazing.
04:48 - Now joining me in the studio is George.
04:53 George, you look like you had a lot of fun at Finnbars.
04:55 Can you tell me more about the experience?
04:57 - Yeah, I had a lovely time.
04:59 Kate and Adam were very welcoming,
05:00 and obviously being from London myself,
05:02 I'm not used to a restaurant with a seaside view,
05:04 so it really gave the restaurant
05:05 a really homely, welcoming feel, which is a nice change.
05:09 - Can you tell me more about what you learned
05:11 about being in the professional kitchen?
05:13 - I think definitely the standards
05:15 and the pressures on chefs.
05:16 I think sometimes as customers, we can take it for granted.
05:19 I've seen my fair share of serialized dramas about cooking,
05:23 and I'm sure that the drama is heightened,
05:25 but I think one thing that is very real
05:27 is the pressure,
05:28 and I think sometimes we can take that for granted.
05:30 - Do you think Chef Duane took on the challenge well?
05:33 - Of course.
05:34 You expect nothing less from someone trained
05:36 by Marco Pierre White and Gordon Ramsay.
05:38 - What tips can you give me, to the viewers at home,
05:43 about handling rainbow trout?
05:45 - Well, if you're bored of using a pan
05:47 and you wanna try something a bit different,
05:49 I would suggest doing what Duane did
05:50 and juicing a lemon and lime, placing it in a bowl,
05:53 and then putting your slice of trout into the bowl
05:55 and letting it cook for about three to five minutes.
05:57 It's a nice change.
05:58 If you wanna be a bit more adventurous,
05:59 I'd take you there.
06:00 - Thank you, George.
06:02 Now, it's our turn to show you what is possible
06:05 to make at home using the same three base ingredients
06:07 given this week.
06:08 Here's how we got on.
06:10 - Now that you've seen the professionals do it,
06:12 - It's our turn to try cooking using
06:14 rainbow trout,
06:17 - lemon,
06:18 - and fennel seeds.
06:19 - And we brought a special taste tester.
06:21 - George.
06:22 - You guys got tough competition.
06:25 I'm excited to cook up though.
06:27 - Let's see.
06:28 - Today, we've decided to make salt-baked rainbow trout
06:32 with piperade, and here are the ingredients needed.
06:36 To prepare the fish, first grate lemon zest
06:38 and put aside into a bowl.
06:39 Then using another lemon, slice into small pieces
06:42 to place in the fish later.
06:43 After that's done, using the same bowl
06:47 with your lemon zest from earlier,
06:48 add salt, thyme, rosemary, and fennel seeds.
06:51 You'll also need to put in the whites of an egg
06:54 to solidify your mixture.
06:55 It should look like this on the screen.
06:57 Then, chop up some garlic and plant them into the fish.
07:02 And don't forget to add your lemon slices from earlier.
07:05 To add some extra flavor,
07:06 sprinkle in any seasonings you'd like.
07:08 Now for the fun part, using a baking tray,
07:12 section out your salt paste and add your fish on top,
07:15 then coat in the salt mixture.
07:17 It is crucial that there's no gaps and it is fully sealed.
07:21 Then place into a preheated oven at 190 degrees Celsius
07:24 for 40 to 50 minutes.
07:26 Moving on to the piperade,
07:28 slice two peppers in half,
07:29 then lather with olive oil and place under the grill
07:32 to bruise and blacken.
07:33 For the tomatoes, cut a shallow crust
07:37 and place into boiling water for 30 seconds
07:39 and allow to cool.
07:40 Now, slice up half an onion and three cloves of garlic.
07:44 After, peel the cool boiled tomatoes
07:46 and note the skin should come off easily.
07:48 Then, dice the tomatoes.
07:50 (upbeat music)
07:53 After the peppers have roasted,
08:02 take them out of the oven and allow to cool.
08:04 Then, peel the skins off, but don't throw them away.
08:07 Then, slice up the peppers.
08:11 And use all of your scraps,
08:14 including tomato and pepper skin.
08:16 To boost the flavor, add tomato paste,
08:19 your seasonings and the residue oil from the peppers.
08:22 Then blend until combined and strained.
08:24 - On to cooking the piperade.
08:34 The key is to be quick to maintain freshness,
08:36 so cook on high heat.
08:37 Add onions and garlic and sauté until fragrant.
08:41 Then add your tomatoes and stir
08:43 until they begin to break down.
08:44 (upbeat music)
08:47 Add the roast peppers and stir.
08:52 When the piperade has thickened,
09:03 finish with the tomato passata
09:05 and sauté until nice and homogenous, like shown.
09:07 - After 40 minutes, the fish should be cooked
09:12 and the salt should have hardened.
09:13 This is when you have a little fun and break it down.
09:16 Be careful not to crack into the rainbow trout skin.
09:19 After taking the salt off, carefully peel the skin away,
09:31 as this will be too salty to consume.
09:32 The trout should have a vibrant color inside,
09:36 showing that it has been cooked beautifully, like shown.
09:42 The final step is plating up and enjoying.
09:44 - And that was our attempt to make salt-based rainbow trout
09:48 with piperade.
09:49 - Now it's George's turn to try it.
09:51 - I'm not going to eat this, guys,
09:52 so I'm just going to go straight in.
09:53 - Hope you enjoy.
09:54 - The flakes really combine with each other well.
10:03 - Do you think it's restaurant-worthy?
10:04 - For sure.
10:05 - Well, that was our first attempt.
10:08 Hope you guys try it at home.
10:10 Joining me now in the studio
10:12 is my fellow amateur chef, Peter.
10:14 So Peter, how do you think it went?
10:16 Because I think it went quite well.
10:18 - Yeah, I'd say considering the circumstances
10:20 that we've never cooked rainbow trout before
10:22 and we didn't even know we were going to cook rainbow trout,
10:25 I think we did a really good job
10:27 with what we came up with, you know,
10:29 the fish and the piperade.
10:31 I think they were a great combination.
10:33 - It's quite difficult to handle the fish though,
10:36 don't you think?
10:36 - Yeah, that's kind of,
10:39 I think I would be like,
10:40 the only thing I would change about the actual dish
10:43 because it was so delicate,
10:45 I didn't know that beforehand.
10:46 So when we came to plating up,
10:47 we kind of broke it down a little bit.
10:49 - Yeah.
10:51 The salt baking process was really complicated as well.
10:53 It looked kind of scary.
10:54 - Yeah, it looks scary from the outside,
10:57 but it's actually more like simple than it looks.
11:00 It's just, you know,
11:01 you're adding salt to the main ingredient,
11:03 which is egg whites,
11:04 and then mixing that together to get a slimy texture,
11:06 kind of like clay.
11:08 - Do you think anything could have improved on
11:12 would have been?
11:12 - I would say, well, the fennel seeds, right?
11:15 - Yeah.
11:17 - Yeah.
11:18 - I kept tasting it.
11:19 - Yeah, you kept tasting it,
11:19 'cause it's like, we didn't grind it down,
11:21 so it was like really crunchy.
11:23 So I think if we could change anything,
11:25 it would be that and probably the presentation.
11:27 - Wow, thank you so much, PR.
11:29 Well, that is all we have time for this week.
11:32 Be sure to come back next time
11:33 to find out which restaurant our foodie George
11:35 will discover next,
11:36 and see what other ingredients
11:38 can be sourced locally from the county.
11:39 Thank you for watching.
11:41 Goodbye.
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