Isle of Skye chef Calum Montgomery survived his first appearance on Great British Menu thanks to an outstanding canape made from freshly caught crab.
The 32-year-old made a few errors on tonight’s all-Scottish episode, not least an under-heated attempt at an edible lump of coal.
However, after coming joint last on 11 points with Edinburgh-based chef Fraser Smith, the Skye native won through to the next round thanks to his superior canapé.
Calum breathed a sigh of relief when judge and three-time Great British Menu winner Richard Corrigan announced he had pipped Fraser at the post.
He was congratulated by the chef and joint leaders Adam Handling and Stuart Ralston.
Adam, originally from Dundee and the owner of the Michelin-starred The Frog in central London, shared 18 points with Edinburgh’s Stuart.
The three winning chefs will compete again tomorrow night to cook a main dish.
Now in its 17th season, the Great British Menu asks talented chefs from the four corners of the UK to compete to present a themed menu of five courses.
This year, the theme is 100 years of British broadcasting, which gave the four contestants on tonight’s show the chance to delve into some TV favourites as they cooked canapes, starters and a fish dish for Corrigan and host Andi Oliver.
It proved an arduous process for some.
Though Calum impressed with his crab and cheddar scone canape which was scored the second top of the day, his starter dish – a take on Hogmany Live that was supposed to look like coal – didn’t go down as well.
Despite saying his dish, which was baby potato confit with truffle béchamel and a leek and potato veloute, deserved eight points, it was judged at five by his rivals.
“I’d be happy with an 8” pic.twitter.com/fwlkh54eaR
— Calum Montgomery (@SkyeChefMonty) March 1, 2022
Calum is the chef patron of Skye’s Edinbane Lodge, a 16th century hunting lodge.
The 32-year-old is highly-decorated and has secured a galaxy of stars and rosettes for his restaurant, but at the halfway point tonight he looked as though he could have been leaving the show early.
For his main, Calum cooked up a dish in honour of BBC TV show Ready Steady Cook. It was served up in a brown paper bag within bowls that paid homage to the show’s signature red tomato and green pepper.
Featuring a green pepper gazpacho with a large scallop and langoustines in a tomato-based sauce, Richard Corrigan scored him six out of 10.
Also through to the next round is Stuart Ralston, the chef for Edinburgh restaurants Aizle and Noto and a returner to the show.
Fraser Smith is the head chef at Angels with Bagpipes, also in Edinburgh.
The Great British Menu continues tomorrow at 9pm on BBC Two where the three remaining chefs will cook a main dish and dessert.
