Culinary teams of England, Wales and Scotland to compete at WICC

The Battle of the Dragon culinary contest is set to pitch teams from England, Scotland and Wales against each other at the Welsh International Culinary Championships (WICC) in February.

The national culinary teams from the three nations will compete at Coleg Llandrillo, Rhos-on-Sea, in Colwyn Bay. Wales will cook its three-course menu for 85 diners on 16 February, while England will do the same on 17 February, followed by Scotland on 18 February.

The teams' dishes and cooking skills will then be judged by an international panel, with the final result announced at the WICC Awards dinner at the Llandudno Bay hotel on the 18 February.

Although the contest is not directly connected to the Culinary Olympics, which are set to take place in Germany in October, the same teams competing in Wales will go ahead to the Germany event, so a good result in the Battle of the Dragon will arguably set the winning team up for a positive performance later.

Tickets for each Battle for the Dragon lunch cost £23 or £21 each when booking all three and are available from Sarah Williams, marketing officer at Grŵp Llandrillo Menai.

The WICC is expected to be attended by 300 competitors, and is organised by the Culinary Association of Wales (CAW). Deputy minister for farming and food Rebecca Evans is also expected to attend.

The show will also hold the finals of the National Chef of Wales, the Junior Chef of Wales, and the Skills Competition Wales from 15 to 18 February.

Arwyn Watkins, president at the Culinary Association of Wales (CAW), commented: "It will be the first opportunity for each of the teams to practise their dishes for the Culinary Olympics in a competitive environment after months of careful planning and preparations."

He added: "The next time the three teams will be together will be at the Culinary Olympics, so it should be an exciting and fascinating contest and a great showcase for culinary skills in the UK."

Menus

Team England

• Starter Seared scallop, smoked eel, horseradish bon bon, cauliflower textures, pickled beets, apple and truffle
• Main course Aged Welsh beef, mushroom purée, hen of the woods, oxtail, pickled onion, turnip and Tunworth
• Dessert Glazed chocolate mousse, caramelised mascarpone and spiced winter pear with almond and honey cake and almond milk ice-cream

Team Scotland

• Starter Seared West coast scallop, smoked haddock Scotch egg, Barwheys Cheddar espuma, caramelised cauliflower and jus gras
• Main course Roast Scotch lamb loin, spiced glazed flank, crispy sweetbread, semolina gnocchi, carrot and apricot puree and black olive jus
• Dessert 72% chocolate cremeaux, caramel mousse, noisette crumb, Yuzu gel, roast banana ice cream and shortbread foam

Team Wales

• Starter Air dried ham wrapped monkfish, smoked haddock kiev with chilli and laverbread, butter parsley and bone marrow custard, beetroot and walnut soil,
  horseradish mousse and pickled apple
• Main course Roasted Welsh lamb rump with toasted barley and thyme leek, potato and lamb pastry, glazed vegetables and craft beer jus
• Dessert Chocolate, raspberry and coconut dark chocolate and ginger cake truffle, coconut mallow, iced raspberry air warm raspberry sponge and caramel wafer

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