New goals at Hotelympia
Partisan football chanting may well be heard in Salon Culinaire for the first time during Hotelympia in February. The Major International Football Culinary Challenge, a new class in the Live Theatre section of Le Salon Culinaire International de Londres, to use its full title, is likely to encourage a large audience.
Salon director Peter Griffiths says he has introduced the class in recognition of the new and interesting culinary activities that are taking place at football stadia all over the country. "It will provide a new twist for the event, and introduce chefs working in a football environment to the salon," he says.
Among the 10 teams, each of three chefs, competing in the class will be entries representing the Liverpool, Newcastle, Southampton, Leicester, Reading, Bolton Wanderers and Aston Villa football clubs.
Their task will be to prepare, cook and present a three-course lunch for two covers within 75 minutes. In order to focus the chefs, the meal they serve must be suitable for their own club chairman and the England head coach, Sven Goran Eriksson.
The Football Culinary Challenge is just one of several new initiatives at the salon in 2004. Also known as the British Open Cookery Championships, the salon is made up of three distinct parts - the Live Theatre, the Salon Display and La Parade des Chefs.
"The salon provides a platform for chefs to display their skills, and brings a real buzz and excitement to the show," says exhibition director Claire Finch. "Compass, Food from Britain and Caterer.com are sponsoring the event, and are working with the Hotelympia team to ensure that it is challenging and inspirational for competitors and entertaining for visitors."
About 1,000 entrants will be competing in 32 live and 55 display classes. Some classes are specifically aimed at senior chefs and some at junior chefs, where the age limit is 23.
Among the classes in the Live Theatre with no age restriction is the new Food from Britain Challenge. Competitors will be expected to use British produce in preparing, cooking and presenting two portions of a main-course dish.
Other new classes include the Conference Centre Chef of the Year, which will involve cooking in the Live Theatre a starter and main course suitable for as many as 100 covers, and the Robot Coupe Challenge Trophy.
To compete for the Robot Coupe trophy, competitors must complete both a live cook-off and a static display. In the Live Theatre, entrants will be expected to use a Robot Coupe Blixer 3 Blender-Mixer to prepare two plated portions of a dish of their choice. For their display dish, competitors can choose to present either a restaurant platter for two portions, a plated three-course meal for one, or a decorative piece.
Hotelympia 2004
Dates: Monday 23 to Friday 27 February 2004
Venue: ExCel, London Docklands
Opening times: 9.30am to 5.30pm (except Friday, 9.30am to 4pm)
To register: telephone 0870 4294644 or visit www.hotelympia.com
Nearest transport link: Custom House (Docklands Light Railway); Custom House (Silverlink rail service); Canning Town (Jubilee Line Underground)
judging salon culinaire
Judging at Salon Culinaire is the ultimate responsibility of salon director Peter Griffiths. On a day-to-day basis, however, the judging will be organised by the chairman of judges of the Live Theatre, John Retallick, and the chairman of judges for the Salon Display and La Parade des Chefs, David Walklate.
To ensure that consistency is maintained throughout the judging process, Griffiths has put together a team of about 80 judges - all people who have themselves attained high standards as competitors. "They know what to expect and they understand the competitive process," Griffiths says.
Griffiths is keen to introduce new and younger judges all the time. During Hotelympia 2004, there will be some candidate judges who will submit judging sheets to provide them with some experience of the judging process.
In the Live Theatre, competitors will be expected to show as many craft skills as time allows. They will be judged on working methods, professional techniques, skills, hygiene, timing, balance and quality of flavours, textures and presentation.
In the Salon Display, showpieces are expected to demonstrate originality, craftsmanship, artistic achievement and visual impact. Platters and plates in the Salon Display are expected to be appetising, have maximum taste and flavour, be nutritionally balanced, use harmonised ingredients, show a level of skill, and be practical and not over-elaborate.
awarding marks
In the Live Theatre, competitors will be marked as follows:
Working methods/culinary skills 25
Presentation 30
Taste/flavours 30
Timing 15
In the Salon Display, marks are awarded differently for showpieces and platters/plates. For showpieces, the breakdown is:
Creativity 25
Workmanship 25
Degree of difficulty 25
Presentation 25
For platters/plates, the following marks are awarded:
Presentation/innovation 25
Taste/flavour 20
Composition 20
Culinary preparation 25
Practical serving 10
awarding medals
all sections of the Salon Culinaire - Live Theatre, Salon Display and La Parade des Chefs - medals will be awarded according to the marks achieved by each competitor, not according to individual placings.
Food safety challenge
Certificates and trophies will be awarded to competitors who show good hygiene practice during all classes in the Live Theatre. The overall senior winner from the five days of competition will win a dinner for two at a top restaurant, while the overall junior winner will be given the opportunity for work experience with a leading chef. Embroidered chefs' jackets will be presented to all daily winners. The Food Safety Challenge is sponsored by Ecolab, in conjunction with Hygiene Monitoring Services.
Gold medals will be presented for scores of 90 marks and more, silver for 75-89 marks, bronze for 65-74, and certificates of merit for 55-64. No certificate of merit will be awarded for La Parade. Although there may be some classes where there are no gold awards, there will always be a winner of each class.
All prize-winners will be presented with their awards at around 5pm each day in the Live Theatre, except on Friday 27 February, when the prizegiving will be at 2.15pm.
