Hotelympia report

24 February 2000
Hotelympia report

Kikkoman Masters goes to Zimmer

Eyck Zimmer, chef-lecturer at Thames Valley University in Slough, has won this year's coveted Kikkoman Masters title. He triumphed in a fiercely competitive cook-off against nine fellow chefs, each of whom had to cook and prepare a two-course meal, excluding dessert, for three covers. The dishes were all original creations but had to include event sponsor Kikkoman's soy sauce as an integral ingredient.

Thirty-year-old Zimmer's winning menu comprised a starter of lobster and scallop skewer served with a butternut squash chutney and soy dressing, followed by a main course of marinated squab pigeon accompanied by a parsnip pancake and wilted ruby chard. The marinade consisted of honey, lemon grass, soy sauce and five-spice.

A 10-day, all-expenses-paid, working trip to Japan is the reward for Zimmer's hard work. Luckily, it can be taken at his own convenience, which is just as well because Zimmer, alongside his lecturing duties, is also studying for a Bachelor of Science degree in International Culinary Arts at Thames Valley.

La parade des Chefs

The happy hubbub of sound present all week in the 340-seat dining area at La Parade des Chefs was testament to the fact that visitors appreciated the three-course menus put out by the 20 teams competing in this year's Open Team Grand Prix at Hotelympia.

La Parade represented the hot section of the competition and required each team to put out a three-course plated meal for 85 covers at £25 per head. Menus had to incorporate British beef, lamb, pork or veal - courtesy of sponsor British Meat - in the main course.

As in previous years, the teams had to prepare and cook their menus in glass-walled kitchens, allowing visitors to the show to peer in. Four teams competed on each day and were judged by a five-strong judging panel chaired by David Walklate, executive chef at Gate Gourmet, London.

The week's overall La Parade winner was the Panel of Chefs of Ireland National Culinary Team, while the winner of the Open Team Grand Prix - which took into account performance in both La Parade des Chefs and a number of cold buffet platters in the display section of Le Salon Culinaire - was the Gardner Merchant Culinary team. La Parade was supported by students from Westminster College, Thames Valley University, West Suffolk College and Waltham Forest College, who worked front of house.

Nestlé Master Chefs Grand Prix

A surprise basket of ingredients greeted the 10 teams competing in the Nestlé Master Chefs Grand Prix on Thursday afternoon in Le Salon Culinaire Live Theatre, sponsored by Caterplan.

The teams had the choice of using some or all of the ingredients provided in a four-course menu which they had to draw up in the 30 minutes prior to the cook-off stage of the competition - and they were required to cook two covers of each dish in an hour and a half.

Triumphant over a strong field of international and national teams was the gold-winning trio of Andrew Owen, Luke Wijeyesekera and Jason Kilby from Winston Manor hotel at Crowborough in East Sussex. Their imaginative menu included a first course of pan-seared fillet of red mullet served on steamed couscous with chargrilled vegetables and a pesto dressing, and a dish of roasted fennel and Italian tomato soup.

Silver medals went to the teams from Rhodes & Co and the Combined Services Culinary Arts Team.

Gate Gourmet

Miranda Swinger of the Butlers Wharf Chef School is to fly out to the USA, thanks to her success in the Gate Gourmet Masterclass. She beat off competition from nine other chefs in an exciting race against the clock. In just 30 minutes, the contestants had to prepare from fresh ingredients a main course that would be suitable for service on a first-class flight and which reflected the international market and global trends.

Swinger, seen here competing in the Rioja Sous Chef Bursary 2000 earlier in the week, prepared poached rabbit and truffle farce with pressed tomato, wild mushroom and mozzarella flan, with an infused cèpe broth.

Foods from Spain

Flavours of the sun were key elements of dishes prepared in the Foods from Spain senior freestyle class.

Top dish was prepared by Adam Fellows of Charlton House hotel at Shepton Mallet in Somerset, who won a gold medal for his fillet of sea bass with Serrano ham, red pepper confit, black olive and caper salsa, and saffron-scented rice with shellfish. With the other nine competitors, Fellows prepared an original dish within 45 minutes, incorporating three ingredients from Serrano ham, olive oil, saffron and citrus fruits.

Two silver medals, two bronze medals and two certificates of merit were also awarded in the class.

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