Chef Conference

Molecular gastronomy may be the buzz word of the moment, but science and food have always been bedfellows, delegates were told at the 20th Caterer & Hotelkeeper Chef Conference at London's Landmark hotel last month.

In a debate on the future of food, Bristol University physicist Dr Peter Barham, who advises chef Heston Blumenthal on the techniques he uses in his kitchen at the Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, told the 250-strong audience at the British Meat Foodservice-sponsored event: "Food processing has always had a scientific aspect to it, but what is new is the idea of chefs working together with scientists to provide an explanation of what's written in the textbooks."

Blumenthal said he had turned to science to help him further understand cooking processes, which in turn had enabled him to expand his culinary repertoire. "Adopting a scientific approach can benefit the home cook as much as chefs working in hospitality and can be applied to everything from making a pot of tea to roasting a piece of beef," he said. "Embracing this approach will hopefully help us eliminate some problems we experience in the kitchen."

But fellow panellist Professor David Foskett, an associate dean at Thames Valley University, warned that chefs who adopted a scientific approach with a limited knowledge of what they were doing could be "very dangerous".

The conference heard that Blumenthal's use of science had included poaching meringues in liquid nitrogen, which results in a meringue with a crust and a very soft interior. Barham said liquid nitrogen was almost completely harmless, but Foskett advised chefs to exercise extreme caution.

Another advocate of science in the kitchen, John Campbell, head chef at the Vineyard at Stockcross, Berkshire, said: "Food should be food, but if I can use science to enhance food and improve its consistency and hence its commerciality, then I will do so."

Chris Galvin, chef-director of Conran Restaurants, said: "Science is fine in the hands of guys like Heston and John, who have spent a lot of time researching the subject, but it can be dangerous and in the wrong hands, it is worrying. I would much prefer chefs to spend time revisiting the basic methods of cookery and get back to sourcing good-quality ingredients."

Meat Labelling
Conference sponsor Richard Fagan, development manager for British Meat Foodservice, opened the event with a message to chefs about food labelling. Fagan, who recently unveiled a proposal to introduce a voluntary code of practice to the industry for labelling the origin of meat on menus, said the industry's response so far had been very supportive. British Meat Foodservice will issue details of its best-practice guidelines to the industry over the coming weeks.

Germain Schwab's Masterclass
Misplaced mandolins and a hiccup with the oven failed to dent Germain Schwab's composure when the award-winning chef's culinary masterclass brought the morning session of the conference to a close.

Ever the pro, the chef-proprietor of Lincolnshire's two-Michelin-starred Winteringham Fields kept things going during sticky moments by entertaining everyone with stories about life behind the stove, ably abetted by sidekick and fellow-Michelin boy Nigel Haworth, chef-proprietor of Northcote Manor in Langho, Lancashire.

But it was Schwab's mastery of classical techniques and ingredients that held the assembled chefs spellbound.

Schwab gave delegates two dishes to mull over. The first was a ravioli of poached egg yolk on pan-fried veal sweetbreads. He said his preference was for wet pasta dough to retain elasticity. But hot overhead lights made the ravioli-making tricky. "I told my chef not to make it too wet. He did. Bastard!" joked Schwab, dusting the pasta with flour to overcome the problem.

Haworth lured him into revealing another trade secret - rubbing truffle (destined for the ravioli) with garlic to bring out its flavour. He later repeated the trick with salt when he crushed up a truffle to make paste for the sauce. Crushing the truffle helps to break up the spores that release its flavours.

For his second dish, Schwab went off on a culinary tangent from the quintessentially classical cuisine of Winteringham Fields. Aromatic tail end of beef, served with oyster mushrooms, pak choi and sloe gin sauce turned out to be his own version of fusion - or what Schwab affectionately called "bastard kitchen" - and a dish typical of those Schwab and his staff eat before service.

Schwab made small incisions in a joint of Red Oxford beef and inserted lemon grass stalks before searing the meat. Rolling the joint in Chinese spices (including onion and garlic powders, cinnamon and star anise) before roasting also boosted the Oriental flavours.

Prompted by Haworth to reveal the secret of Winteringham Fields' success, Schwab mused: "It's a lot of effort from the whole team. I take inspiration from all of my chefs - even the youngest. Sometimes they come to me with an idea and I think ‘bloody hell, that's good, but it needs working on'. So we work on it. My role is always to be a motivator, even when I'm down."

Then Haworth asked: "And what advice would you give to young chefs who want to achieve what you have?" Schwab replied: "Work hard - the world's your oyster. Learn as much as possible from experts in their field. Listening is so important."

Aromatic tail end of beef fillet, oyster mushrooms, pak choi and sloe gin sauce

Fusion's a blight, says Kit Chapman So you thought the debate about fusion food had been filed to the back shelf? Not a bit of it. Speaking with impassioned commitment in his keynote speech at the conference, Kit Chapman, owner of the Castle hotel in Taunton, branded fusion a "blight" on the culinary scene. "It's an aspect of the negative effects of globalisation," he told delegates. "The result is a kind of dumbing down; a levelling out into a form of Lego cuisine."

For more than 20 years, Chapman has built a reputation for championing British cuisine and chefs at his Somerset hotel, and he used his speech to press home his belief in national and regional food. Continuing on the theme of fusion cuisine, he said: "In the end you lose any sense of what really makes food interesting: geography, regional cultures in all their diversity, and seasonality. The philosophy of ‘fusion' corrupts all those values."

But while Chapman said he sensed signs of fusion's death throes, he was concerned that more and more chefs were slaves of fashion. "The result now is a capital city with too many look-alike menus of indifferent quality and zero integrity."

Chapman appealed to all chefs to think more deeply about the substance of their craft and not to be bamboozled by styles and fads.

British Meat Foodservice
British Meat Foodservice is pleased to have been associated with this year's Caterer & Hotelkeeper Chef Conference.

The Chef Conference is an ideal opportunity for caterers from all sectors of the industry to come together to share ideas and to learn from one another's experiences. The day consisted of lively debates, inspirational workshops, and interesting and informative presentations and demonstrations, all of which contributed to an event which is both educational and motivational for caterers. The opportunity to meet and to learn from the exemplar chefs present on the day is also a great attraction for many of the delegates.

Richard Fagan, trade sector manager for British Meat Foodservice, commented: "The partnership between British Meat Foodservice and the Chef Conference was formed because as one of the most proactive marketing and development teams in the food service industry, our objective is to support caterers from all sectors of the industry to enable them to deliver the product and service concepts needed to meet consumer demands.

"Our dedicated account management team works hand-in-hand with caterers, providing advice, inspiration and information across a number of areas. Our unrivalled expertise in product specification, quality assurance and traceability, and in identifying capable sources of supply, has enabled countless caterers to improve their purchasing policies with regard to meat.

"Our growing ability to understand consumers and our constantly improving knowledge of sector structures and trends, positions British Meat Foodservice as the cornerstone in building effective marketing and promotional programmes with key catering partners."

For further information on how British Meat Foodservice can support your business, please contact 01908 844 114, e-mail foodservice@mlc.org.uk or visit the website at www.britishmeatfoodservice.com.