It was double trouble in our latest battle of the chefs when we challenged two teams of chefs from the Inn@West End, in West End, Surrey, to pair up and cook three dishes from a box of mystery ingredients.
This month's sponsor was HP Foodservice and the chefs were challenged to use Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce in all dishes. There was not a Bloody Mary or Welsh Rarebit in sight during the competition, with the chefs creating some really innovative ways of using Worcester sauce in their dishes.
As temperatures soared outside, the two teams of chefs turned up the heat in the kitchen and came up with some hot ideas.
The challenge
Each team receives a box of mystery ingredients, including Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, and is challenged to create two light bites and a main course in 50 minutes. The teams must both reject one ingredient which must then be incorporated into their opponents' menu but must use all other ingredients. Stock cupboard ingredients - such as herbs, oils, eggs and milk - can also be used.
Before
After a steady lunchtime service, the two teams had a quick break to reflect on the challenge ahead. Head chef Lee Watts has been at the Inn for seven years but admits to being a bit nervous about the challenge. "It's not the usual thing we do, but I'm up for something different," he says. Lee has been paired with Martin Baylis, a commis chef who has only two months' catering experience. "It's a great training opportunity for us all," Lee adds. Their opponents - senior chef de partis, Sarel Coetzee, and chef de partis, Jason Breacher - are quietly confident. "This is going to be a great experience," says Jason. The teams draw lots and the cook-off is ready to begin.
The ingredients are revealed to the teams who then have 10 minutes to plan their dishes before the cooking time begins.
The members of team two are not fazed by their ingredients' lists. "They are quite workable and, once we get our creative juices flowing, we'll be fine," Sarel says.
Team one's reaction is more tempered. "Some of our ingredients are a bit obvious so we're going to need to think of something a bit different," says Lee. "I'm happy with the fish - we're a fish-orientated restaurant, so I'm used to working with it. The Worcestershire sauce is a tough one though - these are all light, summery ingredients and I'm not sure how it will work with them." After some careful deliberating, team one decides to reject their red onions while team two decides to push aside the pineapple.
And they're off
50 minutes to go: Lee and Martin decide on salmon, king prawn and sweet potato fish cakes with a spicy Lea & Perrins mayonnaise and tempura king prawns with a chilli, mango and lime salsa and a Lea & Perrins reduction as their light bites. For mains they decide to cook Cajun salmon, with sweet potato chips and spiced pineapple pickle served with a salad dressed with Worcestershire sauce. Sarel and Jason plan to use the Worcestershire sauce in light bites of Moroccan chicken with an orange and pepper salad and marinated feta with a mixed leaf, cherry tomato and pine nut salad, dressed with a roasted garlic and Worcestershire sauce dressing and served with a red onion marmalade. Their main course is to be seared steak with roasted cherry tomatoes, caramelised onions and mushrooms served with a Lea & Perrins and whisky sauce.
45 minutes to go: Team two prepares the marinade for the Moroccan chicken. "We're using turmeric, cumin, ginger, cayenne pepper and ground coriander as well as the Lea & Perrins," Sarel explains. Team one starts the Worcestershire sauce reduction while sautéeing the pineapple with saffron, cracked black pepper, water, sugar and chillies. "We all get on well," says Lee. "The kitchen is so small, there's no room for big egos here."
40 minutes: Team two marinates the feta for their salad in the Lea & Perrins with some wholegrain mustard and olive oil, while team one prepares a marinade of honey, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce and olive oil for the salmon main course. Jason sautées the halved mushrooms for team two's steak dish, while Sarel cooks off the chicken for the Moroccan dish. Lee finely dices the mango for the salsa while Martin checks to see if the sweet potatoes are cooked. The atmosphere is relaxed, but conversation is at a minimum.
35 minutes: Team two roasts off the garlic for their marinade. Team one adds some stock syrup to the pineapple. "We've recently bought lamb whole to make dishes from the various cuts. This has proved really popular," says Lee. "Our fish is popular, too. We collect it fresh from the market twice a week and use species that you wouldn't normally find on pub menus. Customers are more adventurous these days and red and grey mullet, bream and gurnard all go really well."
30 minutes: The members of team two are deep in conversation, fine-tuning their ideas for the dishes. Team one continues to prep their ingredients, chopping the coriander and mashing some of the sweet potatoes for the fish cakes. Lee then roasts off the salmon and prawns with some chilli, spring onions and lime zest so that they are cooked, but dry. Martin takes the fish and mashed potatoes into the separate pastry room to prepare the fish cakes.
25 minutes: Jason removes the chicken from the oven while Sarel seals the steaks. "I'm doing this to gather the juices before putting them in the oven," he explains.
20 minutes: Sarel flambées the steak with the Lea & Perrins and some whisky. "It's a Laphroaig whisky that has a smoky flavour to it," he says. Perhaps team two is attempting to gain advantage points with their pyrotechnic display? Adding cream to the pan, the sauce is brought to the boil.
15 minutes: Team two plates up their Moroccan chicken and orange salad well ahead of time while team one finishes its Worcestershire sauce reduction ready for the tempura prawns light bite. "It worked," says a relieved Lee. Returning to the pineapple relish, he mashes the fruit into smaller pieces. "I'm doing this because I haven't got as much cooking time as I would normally have."
10 minutes: Team two moves on to the second light bite and plates up the marinated feta with a mixed leaf and toasted pine nut salad and a red onion marmalade. "That looks nice," their head chef rival has to admit. The pressure is on for team one to top this offering. Lee adds the prawns to a tempura batter that he has prepared earlier, using lemonade to sweeten the mixture, and deep fries them, while his commis chef prepares the spicy mayonnaise by seasoning it with Lea & Perrins and cayenne pepper. The tempura prawns are plated up with the mango, chilli and lime salsa and Lea & Perrins reduction. "I'd put this on our menu," comments pleased head chef Lee. Moving on, team one next deep-fry the fish cakes.
5 minutes: The atmosphere is almost serene. "We all believe in a calm environment," Lee chips in. "The job's stressful enough without us getting stressed as well." Team two plates up the flambéed steak with the Lea & Perrins and whisky sauce, shiitake and chestnut mushrooms and roasted cherry tomatoes ahead of time. "That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," confides a relieved Sarel. Martin plates up the fish cakes with a mixed leaf and lime salad and the spicy mayonnaise, again ahead of schedule.
2 minutes to go: Martin fries the sweet potato chips and then, under Lee's watchful eye, plates up the salmon main course.
Time's up: While the competitors nervously await the judges' verdict, they reflect on the competition. "We already use Lea & Perrins explains Lee, "but I must admit we're quite staid in how we use it. The most obvious route is to match the Worcestershire sauce with cheese and tomatoes but this competition has shown that it works well in a range of other dishes."
The judges
The judges are Barry Zarach, from Sunning-
hill, Surrey and Chris McNulty from Camber-
ley, Surrey; both of whom have been customers at the Inn for the past six-a