Scothot contests
Female Chef of the Year
Amanda Strachan from the Ivy House in Alloway, south Ayrshire, has been named 2001 Female Chef of the Year on the first day of this year's Scottish Culinary Championships, which took place at Scothot at Glasgow's Scottish Exhibition & Conference Centre (SECC)last week.
Miranda Swinger, formerly of Butlers Wharf Chef School, finished second, and Mandy Fraser of Ballathie House, Kinclaven, came third. All three finalists received gold medals, but Strachan clinched the title with her three-course menu - cooked for four covers - of smoked salmon bread and butter pudding drizzled in a hazelnut and crayfish pesto and topped with Parmesan crisp; roast peppered loin of Ayrshire lamb with polenta ratatouille and sun-dried tomato rosemary jus; and duo of chocolate praline mousses with sesame seed and orange lacy tuile, Drambuie and poppy seed ice-cream and heather honey syrup.
Swinger's menu comprised seared scallops with a confit of lemon and caper roes, pea beignets; poached Scottish fillet of beef, larded with black pudding, served with carrot royale and fondant lyonnaise; and chocolate and orange charlotte with a vanilla marmalade compote.
Fraser's offering was timbale of fresh, cured and smoked salmon on pickled vegetables with a tempura of salmon fillet on a fennel and ginger salad with peanut sauce and coriander oil; chargrilled loin of Perthshire lamb on butter spinach and ratatouille with spiced couscous, roasted baby corn, button onions, tomato and basil infused jus; and banana mousse with a warm rum and raisin tartlet, bitter chocolate sorbet, banana crisp and rum syrup.
The prestigious three-hour competition, sponsored by Watson & Philip, required the 10 finalists to cook four covers of their menus. In addition to the title and gold medal, Strachan won £500, and Swinger and Fraser received gold medals and £300 and £200 respectively.
Scottish Chef of the Year
Scott Dougall of Craigsanquhar House hotel in Logie, Cupar, Fife, has been crowned 2001 Scottish Chef of the Year after a three-and-a-half-hour cook-off at Scothot at the SECC, Glasgow, last week.
Dougall, who beat off nine other finalists for the title, impressed judges with his four-course menu of open lasagne of rabbit, shiitake mushrooms and spinach on roasted vegetable and rosemary essence; lightly smoked langoustine mousse topped with a roasted nugget of monkfish in a lemon grass and coriander consommé; thyme-infused duck with fried polenta, braised cabbage and plum chutney on a caramelised beetroot jus; and a dessert of warm chocolate pudding with a compote of cherries and white chocolate and kirsch vanilla ice-cream.
Second place and a silver medal went to David Edwards of Glenrothes College, and bronze medals went to Richard Hall of Ballathie House hotel, Kinclaven, Perth, who finished third, and Garry Watson of Gordon's restaurant, Inverkeilor, Arbroath, Angus, who came fourth.
Dougall received a CFA gold medal, the Watson & Philip-sponsored title and a cheque for £2,500. The three runners-up each received a cheque for £1,000.
For a full report from Scothot, see next week's Caterer.
