Rustic flavours win it for Ruck

A 19-year-old student has won the College Final of the Gordon Ramsay Scholar 2002 competition. Mark Ruck, of Stratford-upon-Avon College, was one of six students who competed for the title.

Each finalist was asked to cook and serve a main course and dessert from a mystery box of ingredients given to them 30 minutes before cooking began. Among the ingredients were a fillet of Aberdeen Angus beef, globe artichokes and mixed wild mushrooms. The competitors were allowed to choose one additional ingredient for their creation and Ruck selected celeriac.

His dish was entitled peppercorn-studded fillet of beef, served on a bed of creamed celeriac, potatoes, spinach and almonds, with a morel and Madeira jus, and was followed by a dessert of blackberry brûlée with blood oranges and an orange glaze, topped with a sugar spiral.

Scholarship founder Gordon Ramsay, who judged the event at London's Pétrus, described the main course as "very rustic, well flavoured and textured".

"For someone who is 19, Mark has a brilliant future ahead of him," added Ramsay.

Ruck's prize includes £1,000; a trip to a European Michelin-starred restaurant; a visit to a leading vineyard; a Villeroy & Boch commemorative plate; a year's subscription to Caterer & Hotelkeeper; and an opportunity to compete as a wild- card finalist at the grand final of the Gordon Ramsay Scholar 2002, which will be held in London on 30 October.

The winner of the grand final will receive £5,000, two stages working in world-renowned kitchens, a week's experience at Gordon Ramsay's restaurant, and a visit to the home of Villeroy & Boch in Luxembourg, among other prizes.

For more details on the competition, sponsored by the Savoy Educational Trust and Enotria Winecellars, go to www.ramsayscholar.com.

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 23-29 May 2002