(egg cracking and sizzling) (light orchestral music) - Hello, and welcome back to Sorted Food. - Now, as we recently mentioned, after nearly 10 years, our mate and chef, James, has decided to go and
bag himself a better job. (slide whistle playing) So we thought why not have one final, epic chef versus chef, James versus Ben battle. - Today, the chefs will
be taking inspiration from the past 10 years of dishes they've experienced with Sorted, but never actually cooked. - Now a victory for James would mean that he leaves
the Sorted Food kitchen as the best chef that Sorted has ever had or ever will have probably. But if James loses, then we've all decided that he has to stay forever. - Yeah, we have. - We have.
- We have. - We have, they have. - Chefs, the last supper begins in Three, two, one, battle! - Can you microwave this for me? - Okay. What is it? - [James] It's white chocolate. - Okay, did it. - I'm blooming some gelatin. This is going into water. - I have opted for smoked guinea fowl on a charred corn risotto with fermented and pickled garlic buds. It's a throwback to our very, very first chef versus chef battle and an incredible dish we had
at "Le Pigeon" in Portland. I've got a whole bird, and I'm going to take the legs off. They're going to be roasted on a tray with some leeks and
some herbs in the oven. The breasts, we'll need later on and the carcass I'm going to hack that up and then combine it with celery, carrot, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns and onion, plenty of water. And that goes into our instant pot which I'm going to cook at high pressure for about 45 minutes. So we can get stock out of all
the flavour of the carcass. - You noticed how much Ebbers is taking his frustration out on that bird. - So I remember that trip to
Portland being really, quite foodie and the kind of the places we were eating were incredible. It's all sort of farm to table-esque. But we'd just come off the back of a day of blindfold taste testing ice creams and are trying
to identify things. And then while you guys
went and did your own thing, James and I treated ourselves to dinner at Le Pigeon. And it was just a moment we had and it was just brilliant food. I loved it. - It is the moment we had. - Oh that's a really sentimental
way of looking at it. - And we couldn't choose
what to order on the menu, so we'd got four starters and shared them between us. - I would've been devastated if Ben hadn't made a risotto in our final chef vs chef video. - James, you've cooked more risottos in the last two years than I have. You've done three for the book. You've done six for meal packs. I haven't done a single one in two years. - I've been developing
for a mid-week meal pack, not our chef v chef battles. - Whoa. - Ouch. - So Ebbers is hitting us
right in the sentimental area. Where are you taking us through your dish? - That was... (Barry laughing) - I'm doing Japan, or Japanese influence, because we all cooked dinner in Japan for lots of people. It was very intimidating. So I thought I'd kind of
infused some Japanese flavours into some Western
flavours and give it a go. So I'm doing a toasted sesame and white chocolate
mousse on poached rhubarb. With Nigori sake split with wasabi oil, and a miso crumb. - He's going to split it in a good way. Cause whenever I split
things, he tells me it's bad. - [James] I think it's in a good way. - In this video talking about splitting, not good mate.
- Okay fine. (Jamie laughing) - I'm going to start
with my toasted sesame and white chocolate mousse. And to do that, I'm going
to toast sesame seeds, and bring milk up to a boil. And then I'm going to
blitz those sesame seeds with a little bit of milk, add them to the boiling milk along with bloomed gelatin. Then I'm going to whip up double cream, add the white chocolate
and sesame seed mix to the double cream and fold it in very gently. - Betrayal? - No, I think it's... deceit. - Deceit. That's what it is. - Smells like deceit. - My bloomed gelatin is going
to go into my sesame mix. - Oh, and there's this
little after taste of... abandonment as well. Yeah. - My sesame and white chocolate mix, with the gelatin in it, is going to go through
my whipped double cream. (Jamie laughing) - Look, we got the balloons. It's also a time for celebration. So I've got a nice Pinot noir from Oregon from the same place. And I thought not only
is it perfect for me to reduce some down
into a wonderful syrup, - low tannin, nice and fruity - but we can also enjoy glass because James, you might not be allowed to
drink in your new kitchen while you're cooking. But no rules here. - It's a good point actually. If you go into a professional kitchen, you're going to have to buck up your game. - Yeah, that's the point. - Oh, right. Okay. I see. - Cheers. - Cheers. - There's nothing I'd like
better at 9:30 in the morning. - Oh nice, delicious. Thank you very much. Good morning. - The great thing about Portland, Oregon in the summer when we were there was how bountiful all
the fresh produce was. In the spring here in the UK, we've got some wonderful, fresh produce. I'll come to that later,
but corn is not there yet. But we've also learned
that some things frozen, or tinned, or canned, are just as good for
quality and consistency. So I've opened a tin of sweet corn. I've drained it and now
I'm going to char it. - That's a really long
winded way of saying "I'm using sweet corn." (Barry laughing) - I'm transferring my white
chocolate and sesame mousse into a round ring cutter. I'm also going to set
it in a silicon mould and I'm going to decide which one to use because I'm not sure yet. It's going in the fridge
for about an hour. I'm excited about this bit 'cause this bit is also
inspired by another video. It's the birthday cake crumb mix from the milk bar birthday
cake that I cooked for Ben. But instead of rainbow
sprinkles, I'm doing miso. I'm going to mix together: plain flour, caster sugar,
brown sugar, baking powder. And then I'm going to pour in vegetable oil and miso paste, mix it all together. Kind of crumble it over some baking paper put it in the oven for 10 minutes. - I'm reducing a large glass of wine down into a couple of tablespoons of really intense wine syrup. If you're gonna that, pick a red wine without
too many tannins in it, or sort of low tannin because that will concentrate as well. You want the fruitiness to come through and in the natural sugars in the wine more so than reduction of tannin. - "I've done a wine course." - I want something really shiny and syrupy 'cause it really is going
to be the glaze at the end. So with a bit of richness, from stock that are reduced down to jus and this will be the syrup. It just glazes the plate. - The rhubarb is super simple. I'm going to chop it up. Chuck it in a sauce pan with
some sugar, mirin, and water. Bring it up to boil and boil it for like four
minutes with the lid on. For the wasabi oil, I'm going to blanch some
spinach for 30 seconds. That's just for colour. That's going to go in a blender with oil and wasabi paste and just blend it for like a minute. It's very green. (upbeat music) - So with the legs of the foul roasted, and kind of braised in
a way with the liquid and the tin foil lid, I'm now picking off the meat, chopping it up. I'm going to add fresh herbs, the wine reduction, season it to taste and
create little bon bons that I'll quickly chill before pané-ing. - He's making chicken nuggets. Isn't he? (upbeat music continues) (cheering) - So I'm sure people
are gonna have questions about what's next for you. We have done a longer video, where we sat down and had a chat around the table, but what does that next
adventure look like? - Well. Off-camera here, I have always been a development chef. I just happened to join
you guys on camera. So it's going to be much the same. I'm still going to be a development chef just for someone else. I just want to learn a bit of new stuff from other people. I'm not gonna be head chef. So I've got someone to
learn from who is above me. I think that'll be really good. - There's probably just hope for us all. That it's still possible to get a job after all this rubbish. - Well, even after this video. And this. - James, it's Easter, will you cheer up? - And this. - So Mike's is deceptively simple. - And definitely this. - Crêpes Suzzette. Sorted. (everyone laughing) - That, I'd forgotten about that one. - I forgot about my rhubarb while we were having a friendly chat. - [Barry] Oh no. - Turns out you have learned
something from our normals. (everyone laughing) - It's not an absolute disaster. It's just a little softer
than I would've liked. - We're probably going to
have to take that into account when judging. (funky guitar music) - [Ben] Meanwhile, I'm going to sweat off the
shallots in butter and oil. And once they're nice and soft, then I'll add garlic,
herbs, and bay leaves. (funky guitar music continues) (distant chattering and steam escaping) - That's what Ebbers' ears looked like after James said that he
was getting a new job. - One thing we learned
about pressure cookers, is not to overfill them. I'm getting a little
bit of splash back now. Once it's finished going,
I'm going to strain it off. The stock is perfect for the risotto... the rest of it, I'm going to reduce down
into a wonderful rich jus. Risotto rice, going in, toasted in all of that
buttery, oniony goodness. Then a splash of white
wine reduced by half and then, a bit at a time,
with the Guinea fowl stock. - You must've learned a lot from each other over the
last 10 years as well. Is there any standout things? - My approach has always been, ever since the student cooking days, a little bit of cowboy, a little bit of bish bash bosh. Let's get ourselves 90% of the way there, as quick as possible with as few barriers. And that is my approach
to most things in food. Whereas James has a wonderful discipline of try-test perfectionism, that has absolutely
changed everything we do. That's what I'll take
from what you've left of a decade of fine
tuning everything we do. - That's really nice
- That's so cute. - I dunno where the cowboy
analogy comes out. But I- - [Barry] Why a cowboy? - I wouldn't be here if
it wasn't for Ebbers. He gave me the opportunity. I did know of you, before that, like, you came back for a... careers evening at university and I sat there. - Oh, I didn't know this. - I was in the audience. And you were the only person that I, I thought had done a great job. I was like, oh, he's built himself, like, the perfect company to just buy all the ingredients he wants, get all the equipment he wants and just cook. - It's amazing how in
Ben's version of the story that he told to James all those years ago it was just Ben that had done that. - A few weeks ago. I picked some wild garlic and we talked about the advantages of frozen pellets of spinach only in season for a while. So I bought like, I literally filled up a rucksack full of it. Got it home, washed it, blanched it, squeezed
it into my own pellets. And now I've got wild garlic
pellets in the freezer to use, and I'm going to use
some of them in this dish. I also picked some wild garlic buds and then I lacto-fermented them for a week and then pickled them in cider vinegar. And what they are is a wonderful, almost caper-esque like floral citrus-y, tangy thing, that's going to just finish
and garnish the plate. They're lovely. - You couldn't do that in your job. Take your shoes off the work surface. - Well hopefully wherever you're going, they're going to pay you better so you can buy some new shoes. Look at the bottom of them. They've got holes in them. - They're just so comfortable though. Don't close up on my shoes. - There you go, James, have a little- - What have- - Let me set you up a little pané station. So this dish, it all comes
together the last few minutes, but the Guinea fowl leg balls have now set up. Flour, egg, bread crumb. They're going to be fried. (Jamie laughing) Guinea fowl breasts pan
fried skin side down for most of the cooking. Then we'll turn them. Another couple of minutes and then I'll get a gadge out. Finish the risotto by
stirring through the corn, the wild garlic, and the pecorino. Stir it all through, season to taste. - So Ben, what badge you going for today? - Taking a leaf out of your book. Going for "guinea fowl" badge, (laughing) up there with the "squid". - So what is the deal with
the chef skills challenge now? Cause there's going to be a gap of a chef. - Well, you're not getting away that easy. I'm still going to judge you. I've still got plenty
of badges up my sleeve I can hand out, but also, perhaps it's the opportunity to reach out to some top chefs around London. With actual skills, who can come and test you for real. And they won't be as nice as I am. - There's no need to embarrass ourselves in front of real people. - Firm with a bounce, you don't want to over dry it, but, unlike a lot of game you don't want to serve it under done. So it's not game-y that
you can serve it pink. You do want to cook it
through like chicken. But you don't want to dry it out. - What sake you going for there James? Love this, the sake I like. - Unfiltered. Right team, two minutes left. (intense music) - Oh! - 30 seconds. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Stop cooking forever. Well, until he comes back. - Do you want to say it one last time? - Are we going to put them through "sexies"? Is that why? - Sexies (heavy hip hop music) - Hello. I'm gate crashing here. - Oh, hi. - Hello - I'm coming to the party. - Nice that you could join us. - That's why I threw a
few extra nuggets on. - Thanks mate. - Should we just dig straight in? - Yeah. - For the purposes of judging, we now have to set aside
any sentimentality. This is just chef versus chef, base it on what's in front of us. - Cheers. Just imagine
it's a little bit warmer. - Cheers. - Wow that wild garlic bud. - Yeah, the wild garlic is great. - I'll tell you what this dish is missing. It's a knife. - That is a very tasty risotto. I love the fresh pop of
corn in there as well. - All that risotto practise has paid off, and he brought it all
out for my final battle. And it's delicious. - Those nuggs as well. Really, really tasty. - Well played Ebbers. - It's good. - Now, do you wanna put some
spinach over your dessert? - Yeah. As usual. Not a hundred percent sure. What this is. I have to tell you about it, but it's a white chocolate
and sesame mousse with some miso crumb and rhubarb. - He's made it look chef-y. Like, you know, those oily little, blah. I don't even know what that is and I don't know how to do it. - When you do oil and vinegar, and you dip bread into it, but it never goes together. - Yeah. Yeah. It's exactly like that. (laughing - Don't go!!!) - I mean, now that I've portioned it, it looks pretty horrific. Doesn't it? Good luck everyone. Also done an Ebbers and
served some alcohol with it. - Kanpai, Kanpai. - Oh, that is delicious. - We're back, we're back. - For the last time, in a while, James. Cheers. - Cheers. - Ooh. - It's one of those dishes, you can't help but smirk at. 'Cause you sort of go, why does that work? How does that work? But boy does it work. - That is absolutely,
stunningly delicious. The pickled ginger is
the bit right at the end. Cause you get like almost
a really sweetness. Then the candied stuff from the crumb. Then the sesame kicks in and it's going all savoury and then really salty because of the miso. And then suddenly you just get hit by a warmth of ginger and wasabi. And it's kind of like just... - Clever. - Yeah. - You've both given us a
really hard decision to make. - Well if they're going... I'm going back for more of this. - It didn't take long for us to decide. For us, there's a standout, genius plate in front of us. It's complex. It's delicious. It's James Currie. (everyone clapping) - Thank you. Is it just cause I'm leaving? - Would you agree? - I would a hundred percent agree. - That was... - Because yet again, it just
needs thinking outside the box and then delivering them. - Thanks guys. - That's not anywhere near the box. So that's what, that's what gets me. Like there's thinking outside of the box and then over here there's Barry. And then all the way
over there is that dish. - Yeah, absolutely amazing. - Well for one last time, Kanpai, James. - For now. Thank you. And thank you. - Cheers. - So when he does come back, - Yep. - What's your predictions
on the size of the arms? Are they going to get bigger, after he's gone, or smaller? - Come on. Let's keep it to food. - Yeah, I am. (lip smacking) (laughing) - That was weird.
