If you want to watch the amazing journey of former Nailsea School student Amber Francis all six of the south west heats of the Great British Menu are now on BBC iPlayer.

In the programme Amber told of baking a birthday cake at her infant was her inspiration to become a chef and it was a school desk dessert based on evangelist Hannah More which earned her full marks on the show.

In the early rounds of the competition now in its 20th series the competitors had to produce novel canapes and imaginative fish dishes for a veteran chef to taste and mark.

But the mains and desserts came under the critical eyes of a formidable judging panel with some fierce and conflicting opinions.

Despite the heat of the kitchen Amber listened and learned throughout keeping her cool to the very end. Born and raised in North Somerset for Amber it was a return to the Great British Menu kitchen after just missing out in the judge’s chamber in series 18.

A television crew followed Amber, aged 28, back to Nailsea to film at her former Whiteoak Way school and a town where she still has many friends.

Amber, who is currently head chef and senior educator at Christ's College Finchley, has worked in some of the best UK restaurants including The Ritz and Robin Gill’s kitchens at The Dairy, and Bermondsey Larder.

She trained at the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts in Westminster followed by a scholarship to Bournemouth and Poole College and was awarded Young Chef of the Year 2022 at the British Restaurant Awards.

This GBM competition sees professional chefs compete for the chance to cook one course of a four-course banquet at Blenheim Palace with the 2025 theme Great Britons.

Amber ‘s skills were pitted against Nicholas Balfe, chef director at Holm in South Petherton; Ashleigh Farrand of the Kingham Plough in the Cotswolds; and Joe Fallowfield, of the Housel Bay Hotel in Cornwall.

Talking about her London-based job Amber said: “I loved working in fine dining, but I wanted a job that gives something back and invested in future generations, something that is very close to my heart.

“I wanted to use my skills to give back to communities and to do something that more closely aligned with my ethos.

“I feel privileged to be able to show that school chefs can be highly skilled and capable of creating top-level food by appearing on the Great British Menu.

“I am constantly learning in every role that I have taken and being a school chef is no different.

"Feeding hundreds of teenagers every day has given me a new appreciation and different perspective on food, creativity and nutrition - all of which I’ll be putting to good use in this competition.”

Host Andi Oliver introduced the judging panel Tom Kerridge (we have eaten in his Marlow pub), Ed Gamble former Great British Menu champion of champions and Will Self doppelgänger, Lorna McNee made in the mould of Grace Dent with guest judge who for this heat was professor Tracy Daszkiewicz, best known as the Wiltshire director of public health during the nerve agent poisonings in Salisbury.

In the well-equipped kitchen the cooks helped one another to serve and the ingredients used included some unusual cuts of meat like hogget, those puffs of veggie foam we associate with nouvelle cuisine and lots of beetroot much loved by Tracy's family and a few pearls of lemon!

Flying origami larks, black garlic, whipped ewe’s curd, pickled girolles (mushrooms), watercress purée also feature and we held our breadth when Amber admitted she was technically challenging by tempered (glossy) white chocolate which wasn’t usually her forte.

There were mixed responses to Amber’s ‘farty’ daikon radish salad but they loved her braised shank shepherd’s pie.

However, the pièce de resistance was her strawberry and elderflower dessert encased in meringue.

And Amber has admitted sourcing her creative props from eBay, Amazon and crockery from Dunelm.

In the end the pudding won the day as it was declared ‘definitely a banquet-worthy dish.’ And staying true to her roots on her Instagram page Amber follows greengrocers S&R Burchills and apple brewers Nailsea Cider!

WARNING: Do not watch this programme on catch-up if you are hungry as you will be positively salivating.

GBM continues with more region heats before the final in March this year.