And the winners are…
Dozens of prizes were up for grabs in the cooking and serving competitions at this year's Hotelympia. This week Amanda Afiya, Joanna Wood and Dan Bignold conclude their round-up of the events and medallists.
HCTC Future Masters Class
A young chef from the Corus Burnham Beeches hotel has described how he "went all wobbly" after winning gold in the HCTC Future Masters Class 2004.Eighteen-year-old Robert Lacey (below) won the biennial cook-and-serve contest together with front-of-house pairing 21-year-old Sarah Mann, from the Slough Windsor Marriott hotel.
"I'm now looking forward to entering more competitions - it was a brilliant experience," said Lacey, who prepared a chicken fricass‚e with mushrooms and button onions, spiced butternut squash, pommes Anna and honey-glazed baby leeks, with banana tarte tatin to finish.
The competition, sponsored by the Hotel and Catering Training Company (HCTC), aims to promote the skills of chef and restaurant-service Modern Apprentices.Ten regional teams took part in the final. Competitors had to prepare a two-course meal using saut‚d chicken, two vegetables and a potato dish, and a pastry dessert - all in 75 minutes. The front-of-house candidate had to serve guests and interact with them as in a real restaurant.
Mann said: "When I started preparing for the competition I was nervous about what I'd let myself in for, but now I'm very glad I went through with it."After Lacey and Mann, representing Team South East II, won the team gold, the silver medal went to Team South West II, consisting of chef Rebecca Oliver (opposite page, left, with judge Simon Hulstone), from the Bacchanalian restaurant, Cheltenham, and front-of-house pairing Tom Holman, now at Chewton Glen; bronze went to Team South West I, with chef Callum Tasker, from the Cotswold House hotel, and Melissa Barrell, from the Ramada Jarvis Newbury hotel, controlling front of house.As well as the team medals, individual gold medals went to Tom Holman, for outstanding skills in front of house, and to Callum Tasker, for outstanding chef skills. Lacey also took two extra prizes: the Ecolab Food Safety Challenge award for the class, and the overall Ecolab award for the entire day.
Best of the best
Special awards were given to competitors who had excelled across Salon Culinaire. The winners were:
Best exhibit in kitchen/larder section:
Michael Williams, Williamstown, New Jersey, USA
Best exhibit in pastry section: Tony Hoyle, the Grove, Chandler's Cross
Best exhibit in sugarcraft:
Julie Bristol, Greenbank hotel, Falmouth
Best overall junior exhibit: Karlene Gaskell, Compass Group Culinary Team
Best overall senior exhibit:
Tony Hoyle, the Grove, Chandler's Cross
Junior live theatre (junior traditional pasta): Michael Binnington, Compass Group Culinary Team
Senior live theatre (Major International Football Culinary Challenge): Liverpool FC
Best team in La Parade des Chefs: Jumeirah International, Dubai
Winners of the Open Team Grand Prix: Combined Services Culinary Arts Team
Caribbean Master Chef
In the Caribbean Master Chef class, competitors were given one-and-a-half hours to cook and present a three-course plated Caribbean meal using only fresh ingredients. The competitors were also asked to ensure that their recipes featured traditional Caribbean techniques.
The winner was Jocelyn Trefle, who runs Le Delice French Caribbean catering company alongside his role at the well-known north London restaurant, Cottons in Camden. Trefle was praised for the authenticity of his meal, which comprised a tunny fish medley, a main course of chicken medallions with prawn stuffing and an ital millefeuille, and a dessert of banana and pineapple flamb‚ with sugar cane syrup.
Kikkoman Masters
A 30-year-old chef de partie from Claridge's has won the Kikkoman Masters 2004 competition with a dish of soy-marinated sea bass with shiitake mushrooms, watercress and a scallop won ton.Malaysian-born Ching Cheah, who trained at Birmingham College of Food, Tourism and Creative Studies, took the title on the third day of Le Salon Culinaire. Chair of the judges Alastair Little, chef-proprietor of Soho restaurant Alastair Little, described the dish as a "purely delicious mouthful".
Sponsored by Asian sauce specialist Kikkoman, the competition challenged chefs to create a dish in 45 minutes using Kikkoman soy sauce as an integral ingredient. Dishes had to follow a Chinese theme but could include any other ingredients the chefs wanted. Ching wins two return flights to Japan.
The student category was won by 20-year-old Dominic South from Westminster Kingsway College. He prepared sour plum pork with soy caramelised noodles, and wins £300.
Major International Football Culinary Challenge
Liverpool was top of the league again - the culinary league that is - thanks to the combined efforts of a trio of chefs who won the inaugural Football Culinary Challenge trophy and gold medal at Hotelympia's Salon Culinaire.Encouraged by vocal support from the Live Theatre terraces, Colin Halliday, Christian Grall and Jason Clark from Liverpool FC fought off strong challenges from nine other teams representing some of the UK's top football clubs. The Major International-sponsored event was staged on the show's penultimate day.
The competition required its nine competing teams to prepare and cook a three-course meal for two covers suitable for directors' dining in just an hour-and-a-quarter. And it was Liverpool's menu centred on fish, pork and chocolate that tickled the judges' collective taste-buds.The menu comprised a starter of poached sea bass on crayfish risotto with asparagus bouillabaisse reduction and shellfish oil; a main course of Black Forest ham and maple-baked pork tenderloin stuffed with glazed apple fondant potato, accompanied by roast garlic, bean compote, celeriac slaw and baby carrots; and a chocolate pudding with butterscotch latte, caramelised pear, orange and hazelnut ice-cream.
The other competing teams were from Aston Villa, Leicester City, Manchester United, Southampton, West Ham, Wimbledon, Reading and Newcastle. Newcastle also won a gold medal, with Reading, Wimbledon and West Ham carrying off bronze medals.
Sodexho Chef Ladies Team
Sodexho's all-female line-up in La Parade des Chefs managed to earn themselves a gold medal in the week-long competition.The six chefs presented a three-course meal for 100 covers with the theme "A celebration of British food", comprising fresh smoked and cured Irish salmon on pear and cucumber salad, crispy salmon parcel on tomato relish with pea shoot salad, chive oil and citrus dressing; a main course of roast cutlet of best end and braised shoulder steak, creamed celeriac and wild mushrooms, crispy haggis cake with neeps and tatties, and wilted spinach; and, for dessert, a warm rhubarb and custard crumble tart with rhubarb and stem ginger ice-cream, lemon posset and ginger wine shot.
"It was a strange experience on the day, being watched by so many people, but ultimately very rewarding, being awarded gold in such a prestigious competition," commented team member Caroline Pettitt.
Other teams to secure gold medals in the competition were the Jumeirah International Culinary Team, who won the best overall team, and the Combined Services Culinary Arts Team.
Results
Junior display salon medallists
Works in fat: Alex Camilleri, Institute of Tourism, Malta (gold and first in class); Kevin Vella, Institute of Tourism, Malta (gold); Christopher Borg, Institute of Tourism, Malta (gold); Michella Borg, Institute of Tourism, Malta (silver); Charles Aquilina, Institute of Tourism, Malta (silver); Ian Saliba, Institute of Tourism, Malta (silver).
A show platter of meat: Victoria Fowler, Sodexho, Aldershot Garrison (silver).A show platter of fish: Sundip Pauhal, Compass Group Culinary Team (silver and first in class); Michael Treacy, Claridge's, London (silver).
A restaurant platter: Karlene Gaskell, Compass Group Culinary Team (one gold, one silver); Sarah Owen, Wesminster Kingsway College (bronze); Fabio Arcari, Wesminster Kingsway College (bronze).A show platter of salmon: no entries.A show platter of poultry and/or game: Rolanda Frame, Aramark, BP Grangemouth (bronze).
Pastry Section
Decorative piece: Cyril Reder, Nadell Patisserie, London (gold and first in class); Hattie Hillman, Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, Great Milton, Oxfordshire (gold); Liam Armstrong, Brooklands College, Weybridge, Surrey (gold); Laurie Moran, Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons (silver); Deborah Wood, Newcastle College (bronze).
Miniatures: no entries.Decorated celebration cake - sugar paste or rolled fondant: Lucy-Ann Harvey, Speciality Cakes, Poole (silver and first in class); Maria Valaloloma, Army School of Catering (silver); Louis Roden, Birmingham College of Food (bronze).
Decorated celebration cake - royal icing: no entries.
Novelty cake: Laura Corengia, Westminster Kingsway College (gold); Lauren Barrett, Westminster Kingsway College (bronze); Alexander Allen, Speciality Cakes, Poole (bronze).
Wedding cake: Sarah-Jane Burns, Speciality Cakes, Poole (gold); Ian Baker, Sheraton Park Lane hotel, London (bronze); Nadine Shirley, Henley College, Coventry (bronze); Gemma Palmer, Bedford College (bronze).
Tea pastries: Vicky Sturley, the Grove, Chandler's Cross (silver); Lisa Mansel, Claridge's, London (silver); Chris Nurse, Bachmann's Patisserie, Thames Ditton (bronze).
Petits fours: no medals awarded.
Sugar flowers: Christopher Hill, Brockworth, Gloucestershire (silver).Restaurant plates - starter: Matthew Lake, Westminster Kingsway College (silver); Aaron Gray, Compass Group Culinary Team (bronze).
Restaurant plates - fish course: Rosalind Parsk, Westminster Kingsway College (silver); Anthony Achilleos, Westminster Kingsway College (bronze).
Four restaurant plates - main course: Dominic Perera, Westminster Kingsway College (silver); James Moir, Westminster Kingsway College (bronze).
Plated four-course gourmet meal: James Kirkwood, Compass Group Culinary Team (gold); Simon Humm, Compass Group Culinary Team (bronze).
Restaurant plates - sweet: Fiona Flynn, RAC Club, London (bronze and first in class); Matthew Henman, Millhouse hotel, Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire (bronze).
Plated three-course meal: Stuart Rendall, Brooklands College, Weybridge, Surrey (silver and first in class); Daniel Welstead, Westminster Kingsway College (silver); Anthony Coppard, Westminster Kingsway College (bronze); Ian Saliba, Institute of Tourism Studies, Malta (bronze); Alex Camilleri, Institute of Tourism Studies, Malta (bronze).
Canapes: Colin Gibbs, South Birmingham College (silver and first in class); Glen Aquilina, Institute of Tourism, Malta (silver).Restaurant plates - sweet: Christopher Borg, Institute of Tourism Studies, Malta (silver); Victor Vella, Institute of Tourism, Malta (bronze); Crystal Hargood, Southampton City College (bronze).
Restaurant plates - terrine: David White, Westminster Kingsway College (silver); Andrew Vincent, Westminster Kingsway College (bronze); April Lower, the London Marriott hotel (bronze).
Senior Display Salon Medallists
Show platter of salmon: Stuart McMeekin, Compass Group Culinary Team (gold); Steve Moss, Green Parrot Catering, Southampton (silver); Andrew Jones, Claridge's, London (bronze).
Hotelympia Open Team Challenge Seven Day Menu: no entries.
Open Team Grand Prix: Combined Services Culinary Arts Team (gold); Compass Group UK & Ireland Restaurant Associates Culinary Team (gold); Compass Group/ESS Support Services (silver). Overall winners: Combined Services Culinary Arts Team.
Restaurant plates - main course: Ken Tait, Sodexho, Lygon Court, Halesowen (silver and first in class); Clive Jones, Learning and Skills Council, Coventry (silver); Michael Lipscombe, HSBC Headquarters, London (bronze); Stuart Anderson, Avenance Westwood Training & Conference Centre, Coventry (bronze); Daniel McNairney, Compass Group Culinary Team (bronze).
Plated four-course gourmet meal: Allen Townsend, Compass Group Culinary Team (silver and first in class); Rick Potter, US Army (silver); Robbie Lorraine, Compass Group Culinary Team; Bernhard Engelhardt, Compass Group Culinary Team (bronze); Gary Richmond, Compass Group Culinary Team (bronze).
School catering and social services dessert class: Edward Wright, Scolarest, Compass Group (gold); Mike Hodges, Scolarest, Compass Group (silver); John Hughes, Scolarest, Bryanston School, Blandford (silver); Martin Beech, Millfield School, Somerset (bronze); Andrew Deeney, Scolarest, Compass Group (bronze).
Robot Coupe Challenge Trophy: Richard Bowden, Compass Group Culinary Team (gold); David Waplington, Green Bank hotel, Falmouth (gold); John Williamson, Hilton East Kilbride hotel (silver); Paul Bentley, Compass Group Culinary Team (silver); Robert Kennedy, Compass Group Culinary Team (bronze); Tony McCawley, Army School of Catering, Aldershot (bronze); Colin Johnstone, Compass Group Culinary Team (bronze).
Junior Live Theatre Medallists
Fish dish: Farah Sani, Cotswold House hotel, Chipping Campden (gold); Paul Lynch, Sheraton Skyline hotel, Hayes (silver); Charlotte Kemp, Westminster Kingsway College (bronze).
Duck dish: Fabrice Courjeau, Sheraton Park Lane hotel, London (gold); Alex Ching, Claridge's, London (silver); Anthony Hill, Radbrook College, Shrewsbury (bronze).
Traditional pasta: Michael Binnington, Compass Group Culinary Team (gold); Christopher Griffiths, Birmingham College of Food, Tourism & Creative Studies (bronze).
New Zealand lamb: Neil Chatter, Emile Tissot Foodservice, Telford (silver); Paul Lynch, Sheraton Skyline hotel, Hayes (bronze); Stephen Humphries, Compass Group Culinary Team (bronze); Ian Bulpin, the Bear of Rodborough hotel, Stroud (bronze).
Restricted Classes
Association of London Clubs' Chefs: Mark Leach, East India Club (gold); Stephen Luscombe, the Leander Club (silver); Robert Kamoga, the Oriental Club (bronze); Mark Stuart, the Garrick Club (bronze).
Hospital Chefs Team Event: Matthew Thornton and Carl Jarvis, Nottingham City Hospital (gold); Mark Seals and Mark Wood, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne (silver); Craig Floate and Simon Lloyd, Hartlepool Hospital (bronze); Gareth James-Ball and David Hewings, Barry Neighbourhood Hospital (bronze).
Caribbean Master Chef: Jocelyn Trefle, Le Delice French Caribbean restaurant (gold); Didier Le Berre, Anguilla Frangipani restaurant (silver); Roger Forthergill, Indies restaurant, London (silver); Brian Benjamin, BB's Crabback restaurant, London (bronze).
Kikkoman Masters 2004: Ching Cheah, Claridge's, London (winner). Kikkoman Masters student: Dominic South, Westminster Kingsway College (winner).
Hotel and Catering Training Company Future Masters Class Cook and Serve: Robert Lacey, Burnham Beeches hotel, and Sarah Mann, Slough Windsor Marriott hotel (gold); Rebecca Oliver, Bacchanalian restaurant, Cheltenham, and Thomas Holman, Chewton Glen, Hampshire (silver); Callum Tasker, Cotswold House hotel, Chipping Campden, and Melissa Barrel, Ramada Hotel Newbury (bronze).
Best chef award: Callum Tasker.
Best front of house: Thomas Holman.
Senior Live Theatre Medallists
Fish dish: Moritz Schubert, Jumeirah International, Dubai (gold); James Lui, Army School of Catering (bronze); Trevor Stagg, Compass Group Culinary Team (bronze).
Duck Chef of the Year: Neil Foster, Sheraton Park Lane hotel, London (silver and first in class); Andy Twells, Craft Guild of Chefs (silver); Moritz Schubert, Jumeirah International, Dubai (silver); David Humphreys, Cotswold House hotel, Chipping Campden (bronze).
Essential cuisine masterclass: Jason Clark, Compass Group Culinary Team (silver and first in class); Tobias Pfister, Jumeirah International, Dubai (silver); Serkan Yelkenbasan, Sheraton Skyline hotel, Hayes (bronze).
Traditional pasta dish: Gianni Catapona, Jumeirah International, Dubai (bronze).
New Zealand Lamb: Carl Lodge, Compass Group Culinary Team (silver); Louise McPhee, Sheraton Park Lane hotel, London (bronze); Jonathan O'Keefe, the King's Head, Ivinghoe (bronze).
Major International Football Culinary Challenge: Christian Grall, Colin Halliday and Jason Clark, Liverpool FC (gold and trophy); Steve Welch, Andy Johnson and Glen Hall, Newcastle FC (gold); Mark Crocker, Steve Jones and Rory Thompson, Reading FC (bronze); Keith Burton, Dean Jones and Claire Morey, Wimbledon FC (bronze); Steve Fletcher, Keith Ross and John Pugh, West Ham United FC (bronze).
Conference centre chef of the year: Stuart Phillips, Warwick Conferences, University of Warwick (gold); Adam Roberts, Ballbrook House, Bath (silver); Lee Gaskins, Woodside Conference Centre, Kenilworth (bronze).
Academy of Food & Wine Service Cook and Serve: Nicolette Pienaar, Michael Hampton, Andr‚ Pienaar, Holiday Inn, Woking (gold); Simon Green, Alistair Impey, Gavin Walker, Pendley Manor hotel, Tring (silver); Vivienne Copeland, Diarmuid O'Conchaile, John Kelly, Shannon College of Hotel Management (bronze).
Master Chefs Grand Prix: Neil Foster, Mark Snelling and Philip Constable, Sheraton Park Lane hotel, London (gold and first in class); Andrew Jones, Goran Kovacevic and Adam Pierson, Claridge's, London (gold); Bob Brown, Bernhard Engelhardt and Matt Owens, Craft Guild of Chefs (silver); Robert Oberhoffer, Kenny Young and David Waplington, Culinary Arts Team, Catering Support Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps (silver); Frederick Tobin, Stephen Wheeler and Tony Hoyle, the Grove, Chandler's Cross (bronze).
Food From Britain Challenge: Christopher Basten, Richmond Gate hotel, Richmond-upon-Thames (gold); Tony Fitt, Sheraton Park Lane hotel, London (silver); Nancy Kitchlea, Jumeirah International, Dubai (silver); David Smith, Rogano, Glasgow (bronze); Hayden Groves, Compass Group Culinary Team (bronze).
Vegan dish: John Garside, Mercury House, Nottingham (bronze and first in class); Scott Howell, Army School of Catering (bronze).
British Pepper and Spice Ethnic Class: Sudir Sharma, Center Parcs, Longleat Forest (gold and first in class); Sonia Tudor, Army School of Catering, Aldershot (gold).Cheese course: Vikki Jeffryes, Jumeirah International, Dubai (silver).
Chantilly Patisserie Hot Sweet Masterclass: Tim Fisher, Capital Club, London (silver); Lucy Hyder, Hotel on the Park, Cheltenham (bronze).
Robot Coupe Challenge Trophy: David Waplington, Catering Support Regiment Grantham and Greenbank hotel, Falmouth (silver); Christopher Basten, Richmond Gate hotel, Richmond-upon-Thames (bronze).
Fungi: Trevor Stagg, Compass Group Culinary Team (silver); Tobias Pfister, Jumeirah International, Dubai (bronze); Glen Aquilina, Institute of Tourism, Malta (bronze); Emin Deger, Sheraton Skyline hotel, Hayes (bronze); Luke Borley, Cotswold House hotel, Chipping Campden (bronze).
First course: Nancy Kinchela, Jumeirah International, Dubai (gold); Imthiaz Kader, London Heathrow Hilton hotel (silver); Andrew Bloomfield, Royal Garden hotel, London (bronze).
HCA Hospital Chefs of the Year Class
Hospital chefs Matthew Thornton and Carl Jarvis proved to be a healthy partnership in winning this year's Hospital Caterers Association Hospital Chefs of the Year title.
The two chefs from Nottingham City Hospital won the competition by taking gold at Le Salon Culinaire on the last day of Hotelympia.Their winning menu included game toad in the hole served with roast swede, spinach, parsley potatoes and a celeriac and red wine jus; followed by rhubarb blush, a dish of forced rhubarb and oranges bound together with a vanilla ice-cream and Italian meringue.
Finalists had to produce a two-course meal for four in one hour, with a budget of £1.50 per head. Teams were not allowed to use manufactured products and were penalised for food wastage.As well as the trophy, the winners carried off a set of professional knives and a cheque for £200. Other finalists were the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne (silver); Hartlepool Hospital (bronze); Barry Neighbourhood Hospital (bronze); and the Royal and Exeter Hospital (merit).
