Letters

An affront to all our efforts

As co-ordinator of this year's Garde d'Or National Chef of the Year competition, it is incumbent on me to reply to the comments made by an unnamed individual ("This competition can't be fair", Caterer, 27 January, page 18), which attempted to call into question the impartiality of the competition and the professional integrity of its judges.

I must say that I am dismayed that any chef could hold such a low opinion of his fellow professionals. His suggestion that we operate a "you-scratch-my-back" policy within the competition is an affront to our strenuous efforts to maintain a level playing field at all times.

The competition has an open-entry policy. Semi-finalists are selected through blind paper judging, with the winners' names being revealed only after the result has been decided. If the anonymous writer wishes to verify this, he or she should consult any one of the independent witnesses who were present at the blind tasting in December.

I cannot comment about the allegations concerning father-son judging arrangements in France, but what I can say is that no such arrangement would be permitted in our competition. A potential conflict of interest was resolved this year when Roger Hulstone withdrew from judging the semi-final heat, as well as the competition final, involving his son.

All the judging criteria are listed on the competition application form. If the competition really is biased towards former judges, it would be hard to explain why no one who has judged the competition has subsequently gone on to win it. I can assure the author of this letter that the competition winner will be the one who performs best on Friday 11 February. And if Bruce Sangster wins, it will be because he is a top-class chef, not because he has judged the competition in the past.

Duncan Holloway

Co-ordinator,

Garde d'Or National Chef of the Year 2000;

Committee Member,

Craft Guild of Chefs.

competition needs Potential winners

YOUR anonymous reader states that, "I have never competed [in the National Chef of The Year competition] myself," and yet he or she feels qualified to attack fellow chefs and the competition. This shows a clear lack of understanding about the professionalism within our industry and the integrity of the judges, competitors and organisers of this competition.

Our industry is quite small and we do tend to know each other. What's more, speaking as one of the organisers of the Caterplan World Grand Prix in 2001, if we stopped people entering competitions because they might be good or because they had received knowledge of their profession over several years, I do not know who could enter.

At this level, all competitors should know exactly what is required to win. In my experience, judges are approachable and many competitors do ask them questions. The Federation of Chefs in Scotland actually produced competition guidelines for competitors and judges and freely gave them away to anyone who required them.

Chef Sangster should be praised for putting his own reputation on the line by entering this great competition. And other competitors should want to compete against the best - or would our anonymous reader ban all seasoned competitors in order to make it easier to win?

In attacking one competitor just prior to the biggest individual competition in the UK is this person trying to influence the judging? I do hope not.

Tony Jackson

Team Manager,

Scottish Culinary Team,

Kincardine,

Alloa.

Too much wind in the football?

Yes, competition judges do know what to expect - it's the same consistent, edible quality that is expected from the clientele who grace the tables of our restaurants and hotels. I judged Chef of the Year over four titles. In 1998 I said, "OK, boys, I'll have a go," and I swapped my tall hat for a skullcap. [Despite being a previous judge] I didn't win - I blew it in the finals.

But if you don't put yourself forward for any event, how can you promote yourself or your establishment and pass on your skills to the gallery, as well as the jury?

If all you want to do is sit on the sidelines and criticise the players, perhaps you should change your team colours and go out there and get your hands and boots dirty. You might know the referee, but if the keeper saves your shot, who's at fault? Or would that be a case of the ball having too much wind?

Keith Stanley

Langan's Coq D'Or,

London.

Attack was based on ignorance

THE "unknown" writer did not check the facts properly before their letter was printed.

Is this person saying that all judges throughout Great Britain are "tainted"? Somehow, I don't think they would be pleased. Also, where did he get the idea that Bruce Sangster was a "senior" judge in the competition? He plainly knows more than Bruce does.

If the facts had been checked, he would have found that Bruce Sangster is not the first chef to have competed in a competition after having been a judge.

Also, some of the previous competitors have worked with, or been trained by, judges who judged them in this competition as well as in others.

The writer obviously doesn't know much about how the competitors are judged or he would know that the first stage is normally a paper judging, and the judges at this stage do not know who the menus and recipes are from, as all names are removed.

As for the comment on the "mystery basket", what does he mean? Has he got some inside knowledge that the competing chefs don't have?

Anyone who knows Bruce as a chef and as a judge would know that he is one of the straightest guys in the culinary world. And any judge who has worked with him would know that.

As for "new talent shining through", the competition is open to all chefs. They all start off on the same level, no one is stopping them from entering.

Bruce has just returned from Holland, where he was coaching and in charge of a youth team from Scotland competing against 13 other youth teams from all over the world. Is this not encouraging new talent?

Yes, you can print my name: it is Jackie Sangster. And it upsets me greatly that someone who doesn't have the guts to have his name printed, and who doesn't know Bruce as a person, could write and have printed such things.

Jackie Sangster

Cambridge.