Poms away!

Even by the standards of competition veteran Simon Hulstone, the international contest in which he has just competed was both demanding and exhausting. In fact, he rates it as his most difficult yet.

"This one was like doing the 100m - except we were cooking!" he says in an exasperated and jet-lagged voice. And that's the verdict of a man who has taken part in 27 competitions in nine different countries in the past five years.

Hulstone has just flown back from the 28th World Association of Cooks Societies (WACS) Congress, held in Melbourne, Australia, from 15 to 19 March, where he represented Britain in the WACS Individual World Cooking Championship. The event's cook-off required chefs to create two main courses and two desserts from scratch in 90 minutes, with a 20-minute grace period.

Twenty-three-year-old Hulstone, head chef at the Mirabelle restaurant at Eastbourne's Grand Hotel, managed to last the pace in what was both the first senior contest held during any WACS congress and his own first senior competition. Not only did he finish and present his dishes in the allotted time, but he also won a silver medal for the UK, finishing behind South African Steve Benson and Victor Geulessi of the USA, who were both awarded gold. Benson was named overall winner in the class.

The harshness of the cook-off was apparent when, out of the 20 competing international chefs, only six finished. Entrants ranged from the head chef of the Hilton, Hong Kong, to one of Hulstone's ex-bosses, Michael James, former executive chef of the Regent Hotel, Auckland, New Zealand. "He was really shocked to see me when I arrived for the competition," laughs Hulstone.

Hulstone, who was the youngest competitor, says he was surprised by his success, given the collective experience of his rivals.

The structure of the event meant that five chefs competed each day for four days, with the fifth day reserved for the award presentations. Hulstone himself was competing on the morning of the second day. "Only one of the five chefs cooking on the first day managed to finish," Hulstone reveals.

From that moment on, Hulstone had a single goal. "All I wanted to do was finish and get the food out on time," he says, continuing: "I didn't think my food was very good. Making it tidy in 90 minutes just wasn't possible."

The competition rules meant that all the dishes cooked had to be suitable for a fine-dining restaurant in a multinational hotel, and required the entrants to use either fillet of beef, chicken or a selection of vegetables in their two main courses. Chefs also had to produce two desserts from ingredients chosen by themselves, including at least one of the following: butter, Neufchatel cream cheese, smooth ricotta cheese, milk or cream.

Competitors were also allowed to bring additional salads, starch, vegetables and other accompaniments for their main dishes - provided these were listed on their recipe sheets. Hulstone opted to bring his own wood chips from England to smoke some chicken for one of his main courses - just in case he couldn't find them in Melbourne.

His main dishes were pan-fried fillet of beef on a bed of bubble and squeak with a foie gras won ton, and ballotine of chicken with pistachio and apricot, smoked fillet of chicken and a Madeira cream sauce. The main courses were followed by rose and almond pudding with an amaretto sweet cheese and lemon syrup, and spiced fruit chowder with strawberry "Eton mess" (a strawberry purée/strawberry cream mix) and orange tuiles.

The relatively simple menu was essential given the lack of competition time. In fact, to save time, Hulstone did his mise en place at the RACV Hotel where he was staying.

Although not entirely happy with the presentation of his meals, Hulstone believes he won points with his culinary skills. Other competitors, he says, like US entrant Geulessi, took simplicity to the extreme: one of his dishes was chicken in breadcrumbs with a fruit salsa. "Taking part in competitions is all about showing off your skills," maintains Hulstone.

But Hulstone found the cook-off venue intimidating - the middle of a shopping mall in central Melbourne. While he was sweating under the pressure with five judges hovering over him refusing to allow him to move out of his small kitchen area, people were casually wandering about pushing shopping trolleys. "You would look up and there would be four floors of people looking down on you," he says.

Hulstone managed to find time to check out the Melbourne restaurant scene - only to be disappointed. "I tried a lot of restaurants and wasn't too impressed by them," he confesses. Even the few owned by British chefs did not live up to his expectations. "Some of them seemed to be cooking food we had over here four years ago," he says.

Despite the intense pressure that the Melbourne event put him under, Hulstone is eager to compete in the WACS competition again. He says the high standard of opposition was an eye-opener. "When I heard the other guys talking, the differences between us were clear. They were discussing banquets for 3,000, whereas I would, on average, complete a service for 30."

He says the competition also helped him to make a lot of contacts in countries such as Canada.

As for his first day back in the kitchens at the Mirabelle, after 36 hours of travelling, Hulstone says the service flew. "Well, after Melbourne, it would, wouldn't it?"