A Truly British Flavour for The Student Pastry Chef of the Year Finals

England, Wales & Scotland are all represented in the finalists of the Student Pastry Chef of the Year competition. The eight students who made it past the judges and into the final will compete against each other at The Hotel Café Royal on Tuesday 10th May.

Within the 8 finalists three students from Manchester College were chosen along with two from Leicester and one each from Halesowen, Coleg Y Cymoedd Nantgarw and Glasgow.

Speaking of the final Chefs’ Forum director Catherine Farinha said: “It’s going to be a great event and we are so glad we raised the age level as we’ve had so many more applications. This is a popular event and we’ve got a brilliant venue and great team of super-talented judges this year.”

The panel of eight judges, which includes Benoit Blin and Jamie Houghton (head judge) from Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Michael Kwan from The Dorchester, Thibault Houchard from Claridge’s, Chris Underwood from Artisserie, Daniel Pearse from The Savoy, Douglas Oberson from Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester and Neil Rippington, Hospitality Education Consultant and author selected the top eight desserts submitted at the semi-final stage.

The final eight pastry chefs will be invited to Hotel Café Royal to compete live, on Tuesday 10th May, preparing their ‘dessert on the go’ for a tasted and visual assessment by our panel of expert judges.

The finalists:

• Alex Williams – Halesowen College
• Annie Carter – The Manchester College
• Courtney Mcallister – Glasgow College
• Josie Wheeler – Coleg Y Cymoedd Nantgarw
• Mina Mohsenie – Leicester College
• Orla-Kate O’Neil – The Manchester College
• Shirin Asl – The Manchester College
• Zarema Yalkhoroeva – Leicester College

The sponsored ingredients from Henley Bridge and First Choice Produce will be supplied to each finalist on the day.

Pre-baked/made products will be permitted for use in the event of an unforeseen issue (e.g. overcooking, damage, mistakes and errors in production) occurring during the final which may prevent a student from completing the task. The use of pre-baked/made items will be at the discretion of the judges and will be taken into consideration during the judging process.

Judges will be looking for:

1. A well-structured dessert with good textures and clear flavours.
2. Presentation and garnishes that also compliment the flavour and design of the dessert.
3. The dessert must be made in a mould selected by the student chef.
4. 1 of the 12 identical desserts must be packaged/presented as it would be ‘for sale’.

The components of the dessert are at the discretion of each competitor, including the sponsored ingredients, selection of additional ingredients and the techniques used throughout the production of the dessert. The judges will consider such aspects in their assessment of the dessert.

Competitors will have 4 hours to complete the desserts.

The winner will receive:

• £400 voucher from Mitchell & Cooper
• A selection of products from HB Ingredients
• A Bragard hat, trousers, jacket & apron
• HB Ingredients pastry demo at your college
• Matfer Bourgeat product bundle
• Afternoon tea for two at The Dorchester

Thank you to our sponsors Henley Bridge, First Choice Produce, Bragard, Mitchell & Cooper, Matfer Bourgeat, Taylor UK and Adande.

Chef Aidan King’s Epic Cycle Needs Your Support

Chef Aidan King is cycling from Lands’ End to John O’Groats to raise money for The Bike Network

On 19^th – 27^th April Aidan and 5 friends are cycling from Lands’ End to John O’Groats, raising money for The Bike Network with all proceeds going to the charity direct.

Over the 8 days they will cover 1500km and 13,000 meters of elevation. This is the longest ride you can do in the UK. The length of the United Kingdom and with nerves, exciting and most definitely will be some tears, this ride is a mega challenge, all for a great cause!

Aidan is a chef, always has been. After doing 15 years of motor cross as a youth, then road cycling in 2017 and in 2019 he gave it up and took up mountain biking after being knocked off by a car. In 2021 he made a comeback to road cycling.

Aidan said

“Cycling gives me that emotional and mental release. Our industry is not easy, we do long unsocial hours and everything builds up, and cycling for me is a sense of freedom, it allows me to get out and release that stress and free the mind, it’s great for physical and mental condition.

“I come across Adam, founder of The Bike Network via Instagram as I made my road cycling comeback. Wanting to do work with a more “direct to consumer” charity I messaged Adam and together we have travelled 800+ miles to collect donations and also first hand delivered bikes to customers who are being given the gift of cycling to help with the cancer journey.

“We are here to support the cancer community by supplying cycle equipment to patients, survivors and their direct family members”.

Cycling doesn’t only benefit the body, it allows time to digest and think over what is happening. Whether that is during diagnosis, treatment or after all clear when you’re anxiously awaiting news from a follow up with a consultant or scan.

People give bikes that Adam rebuilds, reconditions, and uses used and new parts to rebuild bikes. They are given to people who apply and who are affected by cancer.

Adam, 31, founder of The Bike Network was diagnosed with Stage 3 Bowel Cancer in 2017.

Adam and his wife Jamie had just had a little boy who was only 2 months at the time, their lives were catapulted on to a roller coaster of tests and appointments.

He started a 3-month chemotherapy treatment but after 2 months the cancer shown no signs of improvement. He was sent for an emergency operation to have a colostomy formed before starting over 5 weeks of daily radio chemotherapy.

Thankfully this treatment was a huge success and after a major operation I was given the amazing news all the cancer was removed.

Please show your support to Aidan and his epic journey and donate here.

Kitchen W8 Picks up The 2021 Best Restaurant Award from The Eat Game Awards

Kitchen W8, Rebecca Mascarenhas and Phil Howard’s critically-acclaimed Michelin starred restaurant in the heart of Kensington, has been awarded the Eat Game Awards’ 2021 Best Restaurant or Pub Award in a dinner and ceremony held in London on 24 March 2022.  Head Chef, Mark Kempson, who went to pick up the glittering prize with Assistant General Manager, Charlie Edwards was over the moon. “Being season-addicts at Kitchen W8, we’re huge fans of game, and every October we put on a 6-course game tasting menu to celebrate this wonderfully versatile and healthy meat.  Throughout the seasons, you’ll see a wide variety of game dishes peppering our A La Carte Menu as well*.  I’d like not only to thank Annette and her team at the Eat Game Awards, but also the people who voted for us.  It’s a great honour and we shall do everything in our power to live up to the award.”

The Eat Game Awards’ Best Restaurant or Pub category was generously sponsored by the Fieldsports Journal, and the popular television personality, rural champion Adam Henson was on the judging panel of industry specialists.  Competition was fierce, as game becomes a more mainstream choice in the UK for those who want to eat healthy, reasonably-priced, free range meat.

*Throughout the year, Mark will be offering up some special menus, in addition to the 6 course seasonally-changing tasting menu that adds to the regular offering at Kitchen W8.  Exact dates will be confirmed in due course, so keep an eye on @kitchenw8, the website or sign up to the newsletter.

Haute Dogs, Sushi, Pastry & Butchery Star at Welsh College Taster Day

Maes Manor was full of Newport school students on Thursday 31st March who enjoyed masterclasses, food, drinks – and dancing at the Coleg Gwent Hospitality Industry Taster Day!

Organised by The Chefs’ Forum as part of its ongoing initiative to get school students to learn about hospitality the 2 hour morning session was fully booked.

Delicious Welsh produce was kindly sponsored by Wales’ leading foodservice supplier Castell Howell.

Emma Spender, Head Chef at Maes Manor gave a cookery demo which was followed by a sausage-making masterclass by Tim Hanks from Hanks’ Meat & Game. Next up was a sushi-making demo by Japanese expert Keiko Urakawa followed by a pastry demo by Bake Off: The Professionals 2021 winner Andrew Minto.

Students then enjoyed ‘haute’ dogs and participated in a sushi rolling competition. The event was open to students from years 8-11.

Catherine Farinha, Director of The Chefs’ Forum, said:

“We had a great day. The demos were superb and we even had music and dancing at the end. It was a great way to introduce the students to the world of hospitality and our chefs delivered an amazing array of different techniques and ideas.

“The point is that school students need to be inspired to enter hospitality and we were thrilled to be able to include chefs that they may have seen on the television: Andrew from Bake Off: The Professionals!”

Emma Spender, Head chef at Maes Manor gave a brilliant demonstration on how to cook the perfect steak.  She said “I’m really looking forward to teaching in The Chefs’ Forum Academy at Coleg Gwent… it’s great to give back and it was so wonderful to have so many talented chefs in my kitchen today – the students were a real credit to their college too and the school children loved the whole experience!”

Helen Lawless. Head of School – Services to People at Coleg Gwent said:

“Once again The Chefs’ Forum pushed the boundaries of raising awareness of what we do here at Gwent. This is just the sort of event that makes it easier for us to attract students to study professional cookery and hospitality. We’re thrilled to be a Chefs’ Forum Academy and it is going from strength to strength.”

Photography and film by Gareth Davies Media.

No Doors Required. Adande Raises the Standard with New ‘B’ Energy Class Rating Grab-and-go Open-display Cabinet

Adande is pleased to introduce today its new, super energy efficient, open-display cabinet for retailers and food service operators.

Adande is pleased to introduce today next generation hold-the-cold refrigeration for hospitality, with its new BORA open-display refrigerated cabinet. The integral cabinet brings a new level of energy efficiency to open units of this type with the BORA achieving a B energy class rating, a rating only seen, until now, on refrigeration complete with glass doors. The energy efficiency achieved can save operators up to £1000 per year in electricity alone, per cabinet, compared to other existing open-display units. The Bora helps any company that sells chilled produce reduce their carbon footprint thereby supporting sustainability goals.

Borne of Adande DNA, the Bora like all Adande refrigeration, ‘Holds-the-Cold’. Powered by Adande’s Aircell patented air management technology, the new cabinet consistently holds the cold air in place, barring it from falling out. This delivers both a stable temperature and precisely controlled humidity which keeps food fresher for longer, reducing food waste.

The energy efficiency and advanced design of the unit, combined with use of a natural refrigerant, R290, means the Bora has one of the lowest impacts on the environment of any modern refrigerated cabinet.

In what is yet more good news for operators, the Bora also holds more produce and has high merchandising capacity for its footprint. It has been designed for convenience at every level with the unit fitting comfortably under a standard door frame, making transport easier. The Bora has also been designed to be a low maintenance refrigerator and as such it contains a reversing fan which keeps the condenser clean to maintain operating performance.

The cabinet comes in a black or stainless-steel finish (a white finish is also available). Customers may also choose from a wider range of colours, to match a company’s brand colours or product promotion, for example.

Global Sales Director, Karl Hodgson: “We are really pleased to be able to launch today the new Bora open-display cabinet. The B energy class label rating is a concrete achievement and leads the way for UK retail refrigeration. I thank all of the team at Adande for their work to develop it into the best open-display cabinet on the market. It will undoubtedly save money for customers, in electricity, food waste, and maintenance costs, plus help increase revenue with its large display areas and open-access for shoppers and buyers. I am thrilled that the HRC show is the first venue we can show it, given its suitability to hotels, and restaurants alike. We are taking orders at the show, so do come and see us on stand 419.”

The Bora is available to order from today, and will now replace the Adande Sarma cabinet. The Bora range qualifies for the super deduction tax scheme introduced last year by the UK government. See www.gov.uk/guidance/super-deduction for details.

Chotto Matte Founders Going the Extra Mile for #Ukraine

Determined to do more than just raise money for Ukraine, global restaurateur Kurt Zdesar has embarked on a 1300-mile journey to deliver medical supplies to a hospital in the southwest of the country.

Accompanied by Gini Zdesar (Kurt’s beloved wife), his sister-in-law, Joss and a Ukrainian guide, Alex. The quartet are driving 4 ex-ambulances loaded with medical supplies and hope to cross the border in the coming days.

Chefs’ Forum director Catherine Farinha caught up with Zdesar en route as he was crossing Germany.

“We’ve been going 13hrs now and we’re heading for Poland,” Zdesar said. “From there we’ll do one final shop and then head for Ukraine. The plan is to skirt round Lviv and head for Ternopil Municipal City Hospital in Ternopil Oblast.

“We’ve got a GoFundMe page and have so far raised close to £40,000. I have put in a significant sum also myself. Some of that will pay for petrol but the vast bulk will be, and has been, spent on the actual supplies we are delivering.

“I want to get the supplies there as fast as possible and the best way to do that is to just drive and get the job done.”

Kurt has sent The Chefs’ Form his live location via WhatsApp, so we can keep track on the team’s progress.

The funding page describes the items being taken in terms of everyday items they want to collect:

• Clothes,
• Toiletries (i.e., Sanitary Products, Nappies, Toothbrushes, Soap, baby wipes etc.)
• Sleeping bags, blankets, and warm clothing such as gloves and hats.
• Non-perishable foods (baby formula, canned food)
• Power Banks.
• Torches.
• Etc.

Here is a list of medical & Emergency products we want to collect:

• 1. Turnstiles
• 2. Materials for tamponing
• 3. Dressing material
• 4. Nasopharyngeal tubes
• 6. Conicotomy kits
• 7. Ambu bag
• 8. Occlusive dressings
• 9. Bandages hemostatic Combat Gauze and Combat Rapid I l. Decompressive needles
• 13. Catheters l4J
• 14. Intravenous disposable equipment 15. Belts for fixing the pelvis
• 16. Neck collars
• 17. Fracttre tires of different sizes & Evacuation slings
• 20. Tactical backpacks
• 2l. Dexamethasone
• 22. Antibiotics
• 23. Tranexamic acid
• 24. Tramadol, Ketanov. Nalbuphine
• 25 Suture material, needle holders
• 26: Nasal drops, eye drops
• Burn-treating topical gel bandages.

For more information and to help make a difference, visit the link to the GoFundMe page: https://gofund.me/7f637b7f

Six Colleges go Through to the Finals of Zest Quest Asia 2022

Six colleges will compete in a live cook-off next month to decide who will be the new Zest Quest Asia champions.

Moving forward to the final round are student chefs from Colchester Institute, Loughborough College, North Hertfordshire College, The Sheffield College, University College Birmingham, and Westminster Kingsway College.

The winners will be announced at the Zest Quest Asia 2022 Gala Dinner and Awards Night to be held on Friday, 8th April 2022 at the Hilton London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5, following the cook-off earlier in the day hosted by the hotel’s signature restaurant, Mr Todiwala’s Kitchen.

Founded in 2013 by restaurateurs Cyrus and Pervin Todiwala in collaboration with the Master Chefs of Great Britain, Zest Quest Asia has grown in prestige to become a fixture of the college competition calendar. An educational and cultural trip of a lifetime awaits the overall winners, with the team of three students, accompanied by their tutor, immersing themselves in the cuisine and food traditions of an exciting Asian destination only revealed at the Gala Dinner and Awards Night. To-date, Zest Quest Asia champions have experienced the sights, sounds and tastes of Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand.

There are also a number of additional prizes at stake, offering winners the chance to experience master classes, sponsored tours, and other immersive activities where they can learn more about the techniques and produce found in Asian cookery and cuisine.

Cyrus Todiwala said, ‘Once again we were bowled over by the quality of the entries, and we were pleased to see that the interest in Zest Quest Asia among the colleges and students was as strong as ever. This year the finalists will be challenged even further during the cook off, as they will be asked to demonstrate their use of technology and what they can do with some very interesting and innovative ingredients.

“We’re also pleased to announce that we have a new Chairman of Judges, with the sad passing of the great Andrew Bennett last year.  Stepping into Andrew’s shoes is another brilliant chef, Steve Munkley, one of the best competition judges in the world. Steve has helped us to judge Zest Quest Asia for many years.  So, our finalists know that their performance in the competition will be held up to the highest standards. Good luck to them all, and I hope the parents, colleges, and every corner of the industry will join us at the Gala Dinner to celebrate these amazing young chefs!”

Zest Quest Asia 2022 enjoys significant support from industry. Sponsors include Panasonic, Tilda, Hilton, Don Papa Rum, Cobra, Bidfood, Schwartz, Glengoyne, Meiko and Tibard.

Tickets are now on sale for the Gala Dinner and Awards Night at the Hilton London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5. Tickets are £90pp and £850 for a table of 10. Tickets can be purchased at: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/mcculloughmoore/659878

Gower College Becomes the Third Chefs’ Forum Academy in Wales

The Chefs’ Forum Academy is growing with Gower College in Swansea the latest to join the initiative which enables catering colleges to access the content, chefs and framework of The Chefs’ Forum.

“We are very excited to be joining The Chefs’ Forum and look forward to all the benefits the Academy will bring,” said  Mark Clement, Curriculum Leader, Gower College.

Chefs’ Forum Director Catherine Farinha said: “I am thrilled to bits to welcome Gower to our growing Academy family. We have a fantastic programme of events lined up that I truly believe will benefit the students and the college as a whole.

“With our move into content production with The Chefs’ Knowledge and an enhanced list of chefs who are excited to get into the colleges to teach – the Academy is a growing force in chef education.

“We are doing so much work in Wales at the moment with both colleges and Welsh produce and ingredients. We recently held a Welsh Seafood lunch at L’Oscar restaurant in London, where 70 chefs came to taste Welsh seafood provided by the Welsh Seafood Cluster.

Last Tuesday saw our Sustainability Lunch be held at The Coast restaurant, Saundersfoot, where we showcased Welsh wine and produce to top Welsh chefs who attended.

It’s incredible how effective these events are at promoting excellence to our chef friends throughout the country.

“Following on from that we’re working on more events and campaigns with Game Meat Wales and will be staging  Hospitality Industry Taster Days at all of our Welsh colleges over the next few months.”

Ruth Hansom Heats up the Roux Scholarship 2022

There hasn’t been a female winner of The Roux Scholarship since Irish chef Mercy Fenton won in 1994. Over the years there have been plenty of female chef entrants but not one who had such an opportunity as Ruth Hansom this year.

Hansom is head chef of her own kitchen, The Princess of Shoreditch, so she can take the time to enter and compete and practice her craft. But, it goes deeper than that. Hanson trained at The Ritz under John Williams and is no stranger to the classical cuisine that underpins the Roux Scholarship.

There’s no question that the competition is a tough gig for any chef. The competition starts with a paper round and then 18 semi finalists cook their entry at two colleges: UCB in Birmingham and University of West London in Ealing. The judging is exact and punishing which is why only certain kitchens tend to put forward entrants.

Entrants were down this year with many establishments unable to complete entries due to staff and time shortages. The key elements of the requested dish were Dover sole either on or off the bone, brown shrimps and homemade pasta as one of the garnishes.

So, a fascinating heat will take place on the 24th March with the chefs below battling it out for the eight places in the final, which takes place on the 11th April at Westminster Kingsway College.

The semi-finalists

• Luke Ahearne, Corrigan Collection, London
• Harry Donnelly, The RAF Club, London
• Oliver Dovey, Baxterstorey, London
• Luke Emmess, The Wykeham Arms, Winchester
• Nicholas Paul Fitzgerald, Nico Fitzgerald Restaurants, London
• Ruth Hansom, The Princess of Shoreditch, London
• Yiannis Mexis, Hide, London
• Kamil Novak, The Dysart Petersham, Surrey
• George Ormond, Murano, London
• Liam Pride, Trinity Restaurant, Cambridge
• Christos Sidiropoulos, Flemings Mayfair Hotel, London
• George Whitelock, Angler Restaurant, London
• Kieran Bradley, The Vineyard Hotel Stockcross, Newbury
• Michael Chwu, The Kitchin, Leith, Edinburgh
• Jonathan Ferguson, The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant, Crieff, Scotland
• Jake Hassall, Restaurant Martin Wishart, Edinburgh
• Steven Newton, Coast Restaurant, Pembrokeshire
• Adam Pitfield, Driftwood Hotel, Porscatho, Cornwall

All You Need to Know to be a Brilliant Chef

The Chefs’ Knowledge is a new book for student and junior chefs that teaches, explains and reveals the key aspects to being a chef from how to be the best commis and the real way to use a knife all the way through to having an understanding of the 100 dishes that every chef should know.

Put together by The Chefs’ Forum and written by editor Chandos Elletson The Chefs’ Knowledge is a journey of discovery for young chefs to learn from as they set out on their career. Learning at college is an important step but to get onto the right path in professional kitchens some hard truths need to be accepted and learned.

The Chefs’ Knowledge is a book of lessons and recipes by chefs for chefs. We have chosen a stellar list of working professionals who are at the top of their game. From industry veterans Mark Hix, Henry Harris, Jesse Dunford Wood, Graham Garrett and Michael Dutnall you’ll learn the classics the way they are done at the highest level – and why they are so important.

But, the repertoire has changed over the last few decades and today the dishes and techniques you need to know go far beyond the old classic French. Today you need an understanding of dishes from Italy, Spain, North Africa, The Middle East, India, Asia, China and Japan.

So, our key list of the 100 dishes every chef should know includes classic dishes from all those regions meaning that readers can get a real sense of where food is right now and how to adapt it as you get more experienced.

If there is one truth a junior chef should know right at the beginning of their career it is this: walk before you run. Get yourself into a good kitchen and listen. Soak it up and learn the craft one step at a time – and don’t be in a hurry for glory. That’s advice from two Michelin star chef and Great British Menu hero Daniel Clifford of Cambridge’s Midsummer House.

The Chefs’ Knowledge is filled with advice from leading chefs. You’ll find twenty interviews with nuggets of gold littered through the book making The Chefs’ Knowledge a must-read for every aspiring chef.

 Pre-order your copy now: www.thechefsforum-payments.co.uk