[MUSIC]
Hi I'm Mark Hix.
Today we are going
to do Challenge Hix.
So, I challenge all
of my head chefs for
20 minutes each to cook
as many menu-worthy
dishes as possible, with
seasonal ingredients.
Good morning.
>> Morning.
>> Morning.
>> So we got challenged
with a difference today.
We have a, a, I was
gonna say special guest,
but we have a guest.
>> Good morning chaps.
>> Today we've got Jay
Rayner coming to sort of
have a look at what we're
doing and to comment and
potentially judge on
all of the dishes.
>> One of
the problems for
restaurants is once
you get going,
once service is going,
it's quite hard to get
new dishes on the menu.
There's not a lot of time
to develop things and
come up with ideas.
So the idea of this is,
they're gonna cook stuff.
And some of it is
gonna be brilliant.
And some of it is gonna
be really, really awful.
And my job is to
decide which is which.
>> Awful?
I doubt it.
>> Voices off.
[MUSIC]
Excuse me, Excuse me.
>> So what are you
doing with the geoduck?
I'm kind of intrigued to
what you're gonna try and
get something out of it.
I swear, the only way
you are going to be
able to serve that
is if you take the,
if you take the meat out
of that clam and chop it.
>> After it's cooked or
before it's cooked?
>> After.
>> Yeah.
>> So we're gonna chop,
we're gonna chop it now.
>> We're having
a geoduck challenge.
>> So how long did
we cook it for?
>> I didn't.
>> You aren't going to
have issue with it?
[NOISE] As I'm
cutting through it,
it's very tender
actually.
I think it's one of those
things that when you
start cooking it,
it toughens up.
>> You gonna
marinate it in-
>> Yeah, just a bit of.
Lime and.
What are you
going for there.
>> Lemons and limes.
Anyone?
>> So guys, what is it
like cooking against
the legendary Mark Hix?
>> Not a competition,
by the way.
>> It's certainly not
a competition, no.
>> No, it's a growing
experience.
>> Exactly.
They're very inspiring.
These are very
inspiring sessions and
that's why, you know
that's why we do it.
We get all the,
you know all the,
seasonal ingredients.
We get almost one on
one time with Mark.
So we get a good two
hour window with Mark.
>> Is that like being,
you know the, the child
of the divorced family,
you get a little bit
of custody time?
>> Yeah exactly, yeah.
Take you to the cinema
if we could.
All right Mark,
where are ya at?
Where are we at now?
I'm just gonna do
a simple onion dish.
>> You're burning
shallots, or
no cooking shallots.
>> After these starters,
I'm gonna do them
with pickled walnuts.
>> Yeah.
>> A bit of,
kind of a juice,
pickled walnut juice, and
lots of chives.
[MUSIC]
Three against zero picks.
Although of course its
not a competition.
>> Its not a competition.
>> Not a competition.
>> And
there's no shame in
not getting anything up
on the table whatsoever.
>> Nope.
[MUSIC]
So would you call
that tuatara ceviche?
>> Ceviche I think
>> The bravest dish of
the day so far which is
a geoduck as a ceviche.
Which means it's cooked
off in the acid from
citrus fruit.
In this case lime with
chile and chives and
a bit of coriander.
And he swears that he
thinks they're more
tender raw than they were
when they were cooked.
Lee, head chef at
Brown's, and Ronnie,
group head chef,
have come up with
five dishes so far.
We have another attempt
to take the geoduck and
do something with it.
I'll take this for
the team.
>> It's cooked.
I've eaten a bit.
>> Yeah,
I've eaten a bit, too.
And this is, this is the
Heimlich maneuver waiting
to happen.
[MUSIC]
>> Are you still
eating it?
>> Yeah I'm still
bloody eating it.
>> I didn't have
long enough.
>> Yeah.
You didn't have long
enough.
That's the thing.
I'm curious.
If I go down this end.
>> What it
tastes like raw?
>> Yeah.
[MUSIC]
He's right.
It's much more edible.
It just is and
that's fucking
annoying, isn't it?
[LAUGH]
>> I think he's
trying to be evil.
>> Ronnie's land kidney
swiss chard broth.
[MUSIC]
That has the Hix
written all over it.
>> What this one?
>> Cuttlefish with
biloti beans with
a little chorizo
worked through them.
>> The beans are good
aren't they?
>> The beans are great.
>> I have to say,
this might be really
old-fashioned of me,
and I know you love
the cuttlefish, but
I think that's
really heavy going.
Silver mullet,
is this just sashimi or
is it been
marinated as well.
>> Has it been marinated?
>> Very lightly
marinated.
>> I think that's great.
Char grilled
shallots with some
pickled walnuts and some
pickled walnut liqueur.
I think of everything
I've seen so
far today,
that's the simplest idea.
And it really worked.
It's really lovely.
So I think it's
these two win.
[MUSIC]
So we've had the first
seven dishes and
two more cooks are now
on challenging Hix.
So what's the plan?
>> To be honest we're
going to kind of make up
as we go along.
That's part of
the whole thing.
See what kind of comes
up on the plate.
Got some fantastic
mushrooms which we've got
in this week.
Some bacon.
Some nice kind of autumn
greens, a little kind of
warm salad thing
with that I think.
And then maybe
a little fish soup.
>> What?
You putting those two
together or is that.
>> No, No, no, separate.
>> I was going to say,
warm bacon salad with
a bouillabaisse is, is
pushing the envelope on
what should ever
to be allowed.
[MUSIC]
Mark, are you in,
on up against them
at the same time?
What are you doing?
>> I've got about four
things on the grill.
Luckily his mind,
his mind rolls on.
>> Yeah, don't wave
your knife at me.
>> Luckily his
mind rolls on,
I can get a few
things up my sleeve.
>> Oh, I see.
>> You'll come
to New York.
Which way are you going?
>> I've got some
greengages I'm going to
do like a little duck
in wild plum sauce.
Plus a little
jelly that I
made with
the greengages as well.
>> All right, greengage
jelly, perfect, so
it's kind of autumn.
>> Yeah, and we've got
some poached autumn
fruits as well.
[MUSIC]
>> Are the two of
you actually cooking
together here?
>> Sort of.
We're getting in each
other's way a little bit.
>> What is that?
>> Cuttle.
>> It's a cuttlefish?
>> Yeah, a cuttlefish.
Bacon and sea sand wort.
Which is this.
>> Oh you've been
foraging again?
>> A bit of forage yeah.
A bit of rape seed and
a side of vinegar.
Is anybody keeping
watch on the time?
Oh yes.
>> You got three seconds.
>> Give me three seconds.
Goodness.
>> Times up.
So the two boys have
come up with kind of,
seafood bouillabaisse
thing with
a really hefty clam
right in the middle.
I'll be curious to
see whether that's
cooked through.
You know what?
[LAUGH] You're never
putting these on
your bloody menu.
>> I'm not.
I've never seen
English versions
of these.
>> I'll be
absolutely honest.
You don't want to again.
>> No.
>> Now up,
wild duck in
a greengage sauce.
[MUSIC]
That's as good
as it looks.
I can imagine that
going on the menu.
So Mr. Hix,
cuttlefish with bacon.
>> I'll walk away
when he doesn't mind.
If you slack me off
I'm coming back.
>> Quite heavy
going to be honest.
Cuttlefish can be and
it's good flavor.
It really is.
I'm not even really
interested in that one.
I quite like
the cuttlefish dish.
I think it's very
unlikely that a lot
of other people would.
Without a doubt
the winner after
this round is the mallard
with the greengage sauce.
It's, it's lovely.
[MUSIC]
Well we are two-thirds of
the way through
the challenge.
And as you can see
there have been
quite a few
dishes prepared.
And what we're seeing is
some themes coming
up again and again.
They'll throw pig
at various things.
They're trying
to find ways to
use the cuttlefish.
But I have to say,
for all the duds, and
there have
been some duds,
there's a lot of really
good stuff here.
[MUSIC]
Final round, let's see
what they can cook.
[MUSIC]
Is that braised, or,
or just marinated, or,.
>> Yeah.
Smoked, braised, and
it's gonna be a barbecue.
>> Is it a brisket?
>> A cheek.
>> Cheek.
>> And
what's the marinade.
>> Eh, it's one of
Mark's old recipes.
It's some
Henderson's relish.
It's Oxford sauce, those-
[CROSSTALK].
>> You're basically
nicking one of
his recipes.
>> Why not?
>> To take him
on with you.
>> Yeah, yeah.
Use what you've got.
>> Okay.
Mark, is this your
leftovers dish?
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> Duck and beefsteak
fungus with mustard.
What's great is it
doesn't look like
a plate of left overs.
It's brilliant.
Rachel, are you
deep frying?
>> I'm deep frying
pumpkin tops.
>> All right.
>> And I'm going to serve
it with a Holy Fuck Mayo.
>> With a what mayo?
[MUSIC]
You gotta think about
your sliced brochets.
>> Well, it was sitting,
it's been sitting on my
bowl in front of me.
I still have some left.
>> You hate to waste.
>> Yeah.
>> Time's up.
Dishes on
the table please.
So we have lochs.
The scallop dish
is a scallop dish,
even he knows that.
And do I really have
to try the leftovers?
[MUSIC]
No.
[MUSIC]
Rachel's pumpkin tops.
[MUSIC]
Okay.
Rachel, how much of
the Holy F sauce did you
put through the mayo?
>> A lot.
>> Yeah.
>> They're hot?
>> Sweet Jesus.
[LAUGH].
>> You got really red.
[LAUGH].
>> Yay!
>> So we've seen what
30 dishes today, and
I passed comment on
almost all of them.
This one, which is an ox
sheath that's been smoked
and then braised and
then grilled, is the one
that I would order first.
And if you
look behind me,
they're just
trotting their way
through the leftovers
of that as well.
Hm.
You'll sell
loads of that.
Yeah.
That's excellent.
Hm.
Probably the simplest
thing all day.
That's really,
really, really,
really, really good.
[MUSIC]
What do you think of
today's collection of
dishes?
>> Yeah, good, I think
we've got a mixture of
good a few staff meals,
there, I think.
>> Staff meals staff
meals being your
provision for, they're
never going anywhere near
any of my menu.
>> [LAUGH].
>> Kind of.
>> Yeah.
Well if you choose
the dishes.
>> All right.
I'm still deeply in
love with Ronnie's lamb
kidney swiss chard broth.
And also the mallard
with the greengage sauce.
That was a great dish.
If I was to choose one
dish from each side.
From Hix's side it really
would be that simple
char-grilled shallots
with the pickled walnuts.
Loved it.
And from the other side,
it's the smoked and
grilled cheek with
the autumn slaw,
which is
an absolute killer.
[MUSIC]
So obviously your
right to claim is not
a competition this is
just a way of
developing dishes.
But I know that
you are all
hideously competitive.
So it gives me enormous
pleasure to tell
Martin you beat Hix.
>> Yay.
[NOISE] [APPLAUSE]
Beating Mark Hix,
fantastic.
He's a wealth of
knowledge and
information.
To beat him is quite
shocking to be fair, but
yeah I'm delighted.
Well loved yeah,
he said he wanted to
marry it I think, or
move in with it,
was his quote.
Yeah, it's fantastic.
[MUSIC]
