Luxembourg on a plate
In the first of a series of diaries from the 2001 Gordon Ramsay Scholar, 20-year-old Gemma Blow gives an account of the first part of her prize - a trip to Luxembourg with Villeroy & Boch. Interview by Amanda Afiya.
To be honest, I hadn't really given plate manufacturing a great deal of thought before winning the Gordon Ramsay Scholar competition last September. But when I learnt that part of my prize was to visit some of the factories of Villeroy & Boch in Luxembourg and Germany, I knew I was going to find out soon enough.
The trip was at the end of February and meant my boss, Philip Howard, letting me take a couple of days off from my job as a chef de partie at London's the Square.
I'm used to early starts, but I really didn't enjoy having to be at Gatwick for 6.30am for our 7.50am flight. There were six of us in our group, which included Glenn Ewart, national sales manager for Villeroy & Boch, and Madalene Hamel, who looks after the Chef's Table at Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's, London.
By the time we got on the plane I was starving and desperate for a cup of coffee. No such luck. A fault on the plane (very comforting) meant that we sat on the Tarmac for an hour while the engineers tried to fix it, before being told that we would have to change planes because the fault couldn't be rectified (even more comforting). We finally took off at 10.30am.
On landing, we were immediately met by Niels Aakrann, sales manager for Villeroy & Boch's hotel and restaurant division in Luxembourg, and although we'd flown to Luxembourg, Niels took us straight across the border to Germany to have lunch at the company's hunting lodge, Schloss Saareck (schloss means castle).
Over lunch, Niels told us about the history of the company. Apparently it is one of, if not the, oldest family-owned companies in Europe. Dating back to 1748, the company was originally founded by a Frenchman called Fran‡ois Boch, who came from a town called Audun-le-Tiche. Later, when the Boch family moved the company closer to its customers, who tended to be from Luxembourg and Belgium, they started working with another nearby ceramics manufacturer, Nicolas Villeroy. Some time later, I think in 1837, the two companies merged. The eighth generation of the founding family runs the company today.
After lunch we crossed the River Saar and headed straight for the company's visitor centre - made up of the head office, various showrooms and a museum. Did you know that Villeroy & Boch products were on board the Titanic when it sank in 1912?
In the late afternoon we made our way back to Luxembourg and were taken to Château Septfontaines, a property owned by Villeroy & Boch, which is used to entertain guests of the company. Niels had arranged for us to go out to dinner that night, but as a lot of restaurants are closed on Monday nights in Luxembourg (a bit like home, really), he had struggled to find somewhere.
He managed to find a gem, though, and we arrived to a warm reception from the waiting staff at Clairefontaine, a 40-seat restaurant in the heart of the city. Niels is actually Norwegian, but he speaks English, French, German and Letzeburgish and so was able to explain to the staff at the restaurant that we were "from the trade".
Clairefontaine is an established restaurant, but has recently been taken over by chef Arnaud Magnier and his wife. Although Arnaud is in fact French, he has lived and worked in Luxembourg for several years.
The staff cottoned on to the fact that we wanted to try as many dishes as possible and they let us mix between the à la carte and the tasting menu. After some amazing amuse-gueules, which included rillettes of salmon with crushed pomme purée and salmon roe, and celeriac soup and monkfish with sauce vierge, I was guided towards an assiette of starters.
When it appeared, I couldn't believe my eyes - it was enormous. The dish featured foie gras, salmon, quail's egg, French beans wrapped in smoked venison and a green salad, all served on one plate. Madalene had cauliflower with a light lemon-flavoured cream (which I tried - a really interesting combination). All of the starters were huge. "In Luxembourg," laughed Niels, "we like to offer French quality and German quantity."
The head waiter had suggested that I try Bath chaps for my main course, but I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, because it was described as "Cheetasty pig served in pan with farmer furniture" on the menu. I knew I was definitely getting pig, and he nodded when I pointed at my cheeks. Great relief, then, when Bath chaps appeared in front of me, beautifully presented with a bourguignonne garnish and château potatoes.
We were well impressed with the quality of the food by this time and couldn't understand why the restaurant hadn't got a Michelin star. It would have rated as a strong one-star in the UK, I'm sure.
As the discussion continued, the chef appeared from the kitchen to meet us. We complimented him on the food and asked him why the restaurant was unrecognised by the guides. He looked puzzled. "We have got a star," he replied. "We were awarded it last week." Oops.
Later, Arnaud invited us into the back of the property to have a look around. The kitchen was reasonably large and the sections were well spaced out. It was getting close to 11pm by now, so most of the brigade had gone home, but the pastry chef was patiently waiting for our order.
There were seven people in our group. There were eight desserts on the menu. No contest - we just had to try them all. It was only fair to the pastry chef, although I know from a chef's point of view that that's a nightmare of an order.
The desserts were fab. I chose egg cups filled with chocolate ganache and pain d'épice but also had a chance to dig into some of the other desserts on the table - apple pie with a vanilla Bourbon ice-cream; flowing chocolate ganache with fromage blanc; and chocolate and hazelnut cream with nougatine "crackling".
Arnaud then rejoined us and opened some Champagne so we could celebrate his star with him, which was a lovely gesture. I think we finally left at about 1.30am.
Day two Breakfast at 8.30am before heading off to do Villeroy & Boch's factory tours. The first factory we went to, factory 2, is operated by machines and robots, which produce something like 45,000 plates during a 24-hour shift.
While factory 2 is about three years old, parts of factory 1 date back to 1764 and here everything is made using traditional methods (ie, by hand). I imagined that all of the plate designs would be stamped on to the crockery, but I was surprised to see row upon row of factory workers either painting directly on to the plate or putting transfers on by hand.
Glenn and Niels took us outside the back of the factory to show us what happens to the broken plates and we had a bit of a plate-throwing session, which was cool. But, in all seriousness, having seen the amount of work that goes into the manufacturing side of things, it really made me think that we should all have a bit more respect for china. It cracked me up, though, to think of everyone in the staff restaurant eating off Villeroy & Boch plates.
We had time for one more meal before we flew home - this time in the company's private dining room. We were joined by Laurent Turmes, worldwide sales director, who later presented me with my specially commissioned signature plates - my own thumb print and signature printed in gold on the bone china, no less.
I was pretty exhausted by the time I boarded the plane to come home. I couldn't believe how much we'd covered in less than two days. I can't wait for the next part of my prize, which I take this month - three weeks' work experience at Raffles in Singapore. I promise to write from there, too.
College call
Entries are now open for the college section of the Gordon Ramsay Scholar 2002.
Now in its second year, the competition is seeking the top college student in Great Britain and Ireland. Entrants must be aged 18-25 on 1 July 2002 and can be either a part- or full-time college student. All entrants must gain the permission of their college tutor. Entries close on 12 April. To enter call 01737 224324 or e-mail ramsay.scholar@virgin.net.
