PubChef Awards 2005 - Meat cook-off
The search for PubChef of the Year 2005 kicked off this month with the meat category cook-off in the PubChef Awards. Max Gosney and Jo Bruce report on the action.
Five chefs make their way from all parts of the country to the kitchens of the Meat & Livestock Commission in Milton Keynes and unpack their knives, pots and pans and ingredients. A mixture of tall and short, young and mature, competition veterans and novices, they chat busily about the impending challenge of their cooking skills. All have been selected from over 150 pub chefs to take part in the inaugural PubChef Awards finals. Some are nervous, some are brimming with confidence as the start time approaches.
All chefs have an hour and 15 minutes each to prepare, cook and plate up four samples of their main course dish. They weren't allowed to prepare any ingredients, with the exception of stocks, before the cook-off. With sharpened knives at the ready, the chefs are given the go-ahead to begin cooking. Competitors are set off in fiveminute intervals to allow the judges time to assess each dish upon completion. Paul Morgan begins first and, with a deft incision into a piece of lamb, launches PubChef's inaugural cook-off contest.
The finalists
Daniel Kirkpatrick
PUB: The Eagle & Child, Shuttleworth, Ramsbottom, Lancashire. The pub is a tenancy with brewer Daniel Thwaites. Daniel runs it with his girlfriend Victoria Percival and her mother.THE DISH: Cumbrian ham wrapped lamb.WHY I'LL WIN: "I'm a little bit nervous because I look around at the competition and they are significantly older but I still feel I have a chance."STYLE: "I'm incredibly calm and do not get flustered easily. In fact it helps me to perform when the pressure is on."PREVIOUS FORM: This is the first cook-off competition that Daniel has taken part in.SUPPLIERS: Daniel's lamb was from C&G Meats in Littleborough and his Cumbrian air-dried ham from Cornvale Foods, Carnforth, Lancashire.ON PUB FOOD: "Fresh local food, served simply at the right price in a relaxed atmosphere."WHY ARE YOU AN EXCELLENT PUB CHEF? "At only 21, I run my own pub, write my own menus and train the staff. I believe in what I do."
Gail Wilkinson
PUB: The Crown Inn, Finstock, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. HER DISH: Lamb chump steak with local honey and red wine sauce on lyonnaise potatoes.WHY I'LL WIN: "I've never done anything like this before but I'm really looking forward to it. I'm determined to cook the dish exactly as it would be done in our pub." STYLE: "I go for taste more than decoration. I see myself as a real, rather than a fancy, cook." SUPPLIERS: The lamb for Gail's dish comes from Foxbury farm, which also owns the pub and is next to it. The vegetables come from Drinkwater Farm in Oxfordshire and the honey from a beekeeper in the village.ON PUB FOOD: "Well-cooked, fresh local produce, representing good value for money." WHY ARE YOU AN EXCELLENT PUB CHEF? "I believe in using the very best local produce and being open to new ideas and methods, adapting them to produce quality country inn meals."
Paul Morgan
PUB: The Hampshire Arms, Crondall, Hampshire THE DISH: Belly of lamb with sauté of lamb kidneys. WHY I'LL WIN: "Everybody in this room is a top chef so we all have an equal chance of winning. I want the dish to look as it would if served in my pub. It's a hard dish to create and is usually prepared over three days. It will be a challenge to do it in just over an hour."PREVIOUS FORM: Accolades include Booker Prize for Excellence Pub Chef of the Year 2004. SUPPLIERS: Belly of lamb from Smallbones Farm in Farnham, Surrey ON PUB FOOD: "Dishes that are as appealing to the eyes as they are to the taste buds, representing the freshest ingredients, offering great taste and good value for money."WHY ARE YOU AN EXCELLENT PUB CHEF? "I've taken pub food to a higher level of quality whether using locally sourced ham and eggs or an intricate braised lamb dish."
Philip Nellis
PUB: The Famous Sam's Chophouse, Chapel Walks, ManchesterTHE DISH: Glazed beef fillet with Cabernet oxtail jus WHY I WILL WIN: "I'm the only one doing a beef dish so I guess that gives me a point of difference from the others. Everyone in the room is very capable so I don't think there are any favourites." BACKGROUND: Philip moved to Manchester from his native Canada four years ago. He has worked at Sam's for a year.PREVIOUS FORM: Philip was a finalist in the Food & Drink Chefs of the Year competition 2004. SUPPLIERS: Philip uses Lancashire beef, which he gets from WH Frost Butchers in Chorlton cum Hardy, near Manchester. His fruit and vegetables come from Oliver Kay in Bolton. ON PUB FOOD: "It should be an appetising mix of traditional food with modern influences."WHY ARE YOU AN EXCELLENT PUB CHEF? "I try never to be satisfied and continue to refine my skills. Information is the key to knowledge."
Anthony Williams
THE PUB: The Williams Arms, Braunton, Devon.THE DISH: Lavender and smoked bacon stuffed rump of lamb with a redcurrant and juniper glaze. WHY I'LL WIN: "At the moment I feel like a nervous wreck. I love creating new dishes but I'm not feeling too confident right now - I just want to get going. If I can do my best I will be happy. If people enjoy what I've cooked then that's reward enough for me."PREVIOUS FORM: Anthony was named British Meat Pub Chef of the Year 2003 and his Steak Pie of the Year entry won runner-up in 2002. SUPPLIERS: Anthony sourced the lavender for his dish from Norfolk; the lamb used was from Nest Hill Farm in West Down, Devon, and supplied by LJ Reed butchers in Braunton.ON PUB FOOD: "The food should be as good as a restaurant yet value for money. Creative but still retaining classics or derivatives of them."WHY ARE YOU AN EXCELLENT PUB CHEF? "I have a gourmet reputation and use local produce."
Said and done
"I was nervous throughout and did not feel I performed 100%. I was pleased with one or two aspects of my dish but my mash was not up to scratch." ANTHONY WILLIAMS on this cook-off experience.
"If you don't win, sue the judges for sexual discrimination!" NICK WILKINSON gives his wife - and only female finalist, Gail - some pre-cook-off advice.
"He's a bad tempered and egotistical little man - I'm only joking! In fact, Paul is an inspiration to work for." STEVE ANSELL, chef at the Hampshire Arms, baits his boss before the cook-off.
"To the watching eye it must have looked like I wasn't doing much during most of the cookoff. But that is just my style of cooking - I really don't need to do a lot until the final 30 minutes." GAIL WILKINSON defends her casual cook-off approach.
"The beef was so juicy I almost thought he had injected it with pineapple juice." IAN MCKERRACHER praises Philip's beef.
The judges
Palates primed, five food experts from across the UK decided the meat category winner in the PubChef Awards. The panel comprised Gastro Pub Cookbook author and Telegraph food writer DIANA HENRY, former chief executive of the Restaurant Association and former Egon Ronay
Guide inspector IAN MCKERRACHER; HUGH JUDD foodservice project manager of sponsor EBLEX; Bristol Evening Post restaurant critic and food writer MARK TAYLOR, and PubChef reporter MAX GOSNEY. The chefs were rated on their recipe, use of ingredients, execution of the dish and its taste and presentation.
The verdicts
ANTHONY W
