Aiden Byrne's Great British Menu

This years Great British Menu has made for some very good viewing. The cooking has been varied though, with some very high scoring dishes and some absolutely appalling ones, attracting justifiably low scores. This was Aiden Byrne's third appearance on GBM and as it was, he was pitched up against veggie maestro and newcomer, Michelin star chef Simon Rogan.
Now then, a number of foodies think that Simon Rogan is long overdue his second Michelin star, so it was indeed going to be a battle royal, and witnessing events enfold on the television made for good viewing. In fact it was neck and neck to the finish. Shame that only one chef could go through though. In my opinion they both deserved to progress.
I have been fortunate to eat both chefs food, in fact I have eaten more of Aiden's than Simon's and they both have their own distinctive styles. In fact I dare say that I could identify a dish from both chefs if a number of plates were put before me.

Aiden is based in Cheshire running the successful  British Grill at The Church Green in Lymm with his partner, the wonderful Sarah Broadley. Reportedly he was the youngest Michelin starred chef in the UK at the tender age of 22 (at Adlards) He has also worked in one of the toughest kitchens in the world. Yes, at Pied a Terre, with Tom Aikens.  When Tom was cooking his socks off and wowing everyone with his distinctive food, Aiden Byrne was his right hand man, his Head chef. That was some kitchen. They both pushed to the limit and if you read the forward by Tom Aikens in Aiden's book Made in Great Britain, you will understand the very  deep  bond that still exists between both men.
A number of years in charge of the kitchen at The Grill of the world famous Dorchester Hotel in London followed, but the man always yearned for his own restaurant, resulting in The Church Green, run jointly with partner Sarah.

So, on to the food. The first of the four courses that we were served, we have eaten before. We dined here about eight weeks ago and this was on the menu then.
Terrine of Foie Gras with black cherry and ginger bread and palm sugar.

 

From memory I think the judges thought this dish to be a bit too sweet and likened it more to a dessert. I have to disagree, it suited my palate down to the ground. The velvety foie gras and the cherry jelly layer were a marriage made in heaven. The sweetness comes from palm sugar. Yes it is a sweet dish, but I loved the cold and frozen elements and it had enough depth of flavour and texture to hold the interest. Lots of spicing floating around with heavy hits of vanilla. Perhaps my favourite dish.

Next up was the fish course which the judges loved and scored it accordingly.
Beetroot poached Salmon with caviar, razor clam, fennel and beetroot.

Aiden Byrne likes using razor clams, they seem to feature quite a bit on his menus. Beetroot, orange and fennel is the main focus of the flavours running through this dish. The powder under the razor clam shell by the way is fennel and olive oil powder, and the idea is to eat the contents of the clam shell with the powder. Witness pink grapefruit, orange, batons of beetroot and cockles. The delicious salmon baton is filled with caviar. We both enjoyed eating this dish.  My wife preferred it to the first dish. I thought it to be the other way around.

The main course I guess would keep any carnivore happy. Larded Veal fillet with peas, ham, truffle and rosemary.

I thought that this presented well and the Rose Veal, which was larded with fat from top producer Trealy Farm, was extremely moist and giving. This is an old fashioned way of cooking to keep the meat from drying out. It was a generous portion. The peas, the ham and the rosemary mix  comes from Italian roots. The Trealy Farm ham fat is marinated in salt, rosemary, and truffle. I loved the dish it went down a treat. Methinks I could eat it again right now.


To finish off,. The dessert was Orange and Olive oil cake. Aiden has been making part of this dish (minus the jelly) for quite some time. Its called a flour less Tunisian orange and olive oil cake. Originally it would have been made with almonds, instead of flour. As is the norm with some chefs today a vegetable makes an appearance in the form of candied celery. This was at the base of the cardamon ice cream filled crispy orange cannelloni , and for  us it worked surprisingly well. A good variation of tastes and textures made the dish most enjoyable.

Well, The Church Green is far closer to us than London, and for that I am glad. We have enjoyed eating some very good food there.
However having said that Aiden Byrne is currently in negotiation to open up (later in the year) a fine dining restaurant in Manchester City Centre so that he can showcase his food in more intimate surroundings. The Church Green will still carry on in its British Grill format and until the opening Aiden will be at nearly every service until it does. I will let you know as soon as I hear anything, because rest assured we will be one of the early diners to try it out.

In the meantime may I suggest you head on down to try his Great British Menu dishes for yourself. You will not be disappointed. I assure you.

The man himself, Aiden Byrne.