Vacherin team wins ACE Ready Steady Cook challenge

Vacherin chefs Steven Lickley and Paul Matthews took gold at the Association of Catering Excellence (ACE) Ready Steady Cook challenge last week.

A total of 12 teams from across the foodservice sector competed for the title in front of a 200-strong audience at Imperial College London.

Their winning menu was pan-roasted lamb cannon, brown butter sweet potato, sweet and sour leeks, charred spring onion and feta crumb with a dessert of red wine poached plums, bitter chocolate, blackberry and lemon curd, and spiced yoghurt.

All competing teams were given a mystery bag of ingredients, 30 minutes to plan their menu and then just 30 minutes to cook on two induction hobs.

Judge Geoff Booth, from Westminster Kingsway College, added: "The chefs are treated horribly - they have no time, very limited facilities, and a lot of distractions, with a compere interrupting them and an audience quiz going on in the background. We're in awe of the talent at this event."

Each winning chef and their guest will enjoy a meal at Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck restaurant in Bray. Second place went to Restaurant Associates while Brookwood took third.

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