There were seven awards up for grabs covering a range of categories.

The Louis Cipolla Award went to Giovanni Di Vito, lecturer at University College Birmingham. Awarded for his work with third year students at UCB and continually raising the standards.

           Giovanni Di Vito, Andreas Antona (Vice-President), Jim Eaves (Chairman).

Robert J Smith Award was awarded to Andy Waters  for his work mentoring Aaron Darnley.

                 Peter Griffiths MBE (President), Andy Waters, Jim Eaves (Chairman).

Johnnie Bora Trophy for the most outstanding young chef was won by Claire Hutchings who was runner up in Masterchef the Professionals. Claire was previously a runner up in the BCF Young Chef of the Year.

          Graham Crump (Executive Council), Claire Hutchings, Jim Eaves (Chairman). 

Classic Fine Food Award was given to Nick Vadis from Compass group. The award was in recognition of Nick’s work with Simon Hulstone and Adam Bennett mentoring them in the Bocuse D’or.  Nick Vardis, Jim Eaves (Chairman).

This year saw three new categories of awards.

The Ken Fraser MBE Memorial Award which was given to two winners Simon Stocker and Vince Cottam both of whom are lecturers at Westminster Kingsway College in London. They were jointly given the award for their work with the Junior National Team. Simon accepted the award for Vince as he was unable to attend.

            Graham Crump (Executive Council), Simon Stocker, Jim Eaves (Chairman).

BCF Special Award which is given to a member who works behind the scenes without any recognition. This year the recipient is Andreas Antona Chef Patron of Simpsons Restaurant Birmingham. Andreas has been instrumental in creating the Bocuse D’or kitchen at University College Birmingham.

Peter Griffiths MBE-President, Andreas Antona-Vice-President, Jim Eaves-Chairman.

The Chairman’s Award which is given to a member who may not fit into the other categories. The winner is chosen by the Chairman, the winner of this new award was Michael Flynn, Director of Interfruit Catering, Birmingham for his dedication and support of the BCF.

A one off Outstanding Contribution award was given to Mary Griffiths for her support and long service working behind the scenes at Hotelympia, Hospitality and with many BCF competitions.

                                        Mary Griffiths, Jim Eaves (Chairman).

Guests enjoyed a champagne and canape reception followed by a five course dinner with wine, and excellent live entertainment. The whole evening was a great success, congratulations and well done to all the award winners!

Marriott Forest of Arden Hotel & Country Club, Maxstoke Lane, Meriden, Warwickshire, CV7 7HR.

www.MarriottForestofArden.co.uk

The Arden Championship Course.

• Teams of 4 @ £240.00 (inc vat) per team (£60.00 per player).
• Sausage/Bacon rolls/coffee/tea on arrival.
• 18 Holes of Golf (10.00am shotgun start).
• Light Lunch (3 – 5.00pm).
• Prizes: 1st, 2nd and 3rd, Nearest the pin (8th & 15th), Longest drive (3rd & 12th), Signature hole (the 18th).
• Mike Sullivan Trophy – BCF/CGC. 

Booking details: Jayne Mottram secretary@britishculinaryfederation.co.uk : 01789 491218.

The Elephant Restaurant, Torquay.

www.elephantrestaurant.co.uk

3 Course Menu including Wine: £50.00 per person.

Bookings: 01803 200044.

Paramount Restaurant, Centre Point, 101-103 New Oxford Street, London WC1A 1DD.

www.paramount.uk.net

Booking details: Jayne Mottram: scretary@britishculinaryfederation.co.uk : 01789 491218.

Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel, NEC.

Champagne and canape reception.  Five course dinner and wine.  Excellent entertainment.

Tickets: £80 per person.  Special accommodation rates available.

For bookings contact Jayne Mottram on 01789 491218 or email: secretary@britishculinaryfederation.co.uk

Nominations are invited for the BCF Louis Cipolla Award from BCF members.

11^th British Culinary Federation

Student Challenge Cook and Serve Team of the Year 2012

sponsored by Brakes fresh ideas

Nine teams fiercely competed in the 11^th Student Cook and Serve Challenge, producing an extremely high standard of finished dishes and once again raising the bar for another year. It was Westminster Kingsway College who finally lifted the trophy at the end of a nail biting finish, our congratulations and thanks go to winning team members – chef’s Seo Hyung Im, Edward Smith who have both only been students for a few months and are on a fast track intensive cookery course. Front of house student Sophie Saxby, who was a late comer standing in at the last minute for the original front of house person who had fallen ill last week.

In second place was the team from Stratford upon Avon College, Mathew Byrd, Alex Batsford, and Tara Harris with South Birmingham College, Steven Clarke, Gavin Lees, and Damian Brown coming third.

The Award for the Best Kitchen Team was won by chefs Mathew Byrd and Alex Batsford of Stratford upon Avon college. The Best Front of House Person was awarded to Sophie Saxby from Westminster Kingsway.

The Competition was held at Stratford upon Avon College and a vote of thanks must go to Colin Gascoyne and his team who once again gave the BCF a huge amount of support and made everyone welcome on the day.  Our sincere thanks go to Brakes fresh ideas for their continued sponsorship.

The teams consisted of two chefs and one waiter, who had to produce the following for 4 covers – (2 covers to be served to diners, 1 cover for judging and one to be photographed for a CD).

Starter: A dish of the Competitors’ choice, using Loin of Cod (4x 140g -170g per team).

Main Course: A dish of the Competitors’ choice, using Fillet of Pork (4 whole pork fillets per team).

Dessert: A dish of the Competitors’ choice, which must include Fruit

Stratford College staff provided Coffee, made ready for the waiter to pour, alongside bottled water, bread rolls and butter.

Waiters were marked on Table Presentation, Greeting upon arrival, Communication with the diners and service of the meal, water, wine and coffee.

The Cod Loin and Pork Fillets were provided by the Competition Sponsors – Brakes fresh ideas.

Judges

The Chairman of Judges was BCF WACS Competition Organiser, Lee Corke, from Clare College, Cambridge.

The other kitchen judges were;

Eric Bruce, Chef Patron, Restaurant Severn, Ironbridge.

Matt Owens, Executive Pastry Chef, Zuidam UK.

Mat Cheal, Chef Simpsons Restaurant.

Paul Gould, OBE.

Chris Hudson, Chef Consultant.

The Front of House judges were;

Bernard France: Classic Fine Foods Ltd.

Tony Selimaj: Simpsons Restaurant, Birmingham.

The Presentation of the Awards

BCF Chairman, Jim Eaves, thanked Andrew Crawford of Brakes fresh ideas for their 11 years of loyal support and sponsorship of this competition.  He thanked the team of judges for giving up their time and also said that he was very impressed with the students’ high standards and hard work, and finally thanked the mentors for their support of the competitors.

Andrew Crawford of Brakes, who presented the prizes expressed his delight at sponsoring the competition and also said how impressed he was with the standard he had seen from the students throughout the competition.

The Awards

1st Place

Competition Trophy. Each member of the team received a set of Global knives and a      framed Winners certificate.

2^nd Place

Equipment voucher for each team member and a framed certificate.

3^rd Place

Equipment voucher for each team member and a framed certificate.

All competitors in the final were given one year’s membership of British Culinary Federation as well as a certificate and a Chef’s jacket or Waiter’s waistcoat as well as a gift from Brakes fresh ideas.

Each team’s mentor received a bottle of champagne.

1^ST Westminster Kingsway College

Edward Smith

Sophie Saxby

Seo Hyung Im

Menu

Slow cooked fillet of cod, clam porridge, smoked cod cheeks, nettle foam.

Pork tenderloin with black garlic, English asparagus, and apple salad, buttered jersey royals, broad bean puree

Mille feuille of gariguette strawberries and rhubarb curd.

2^nd Stratford upon Avon College

Mathew Byrd

Tara Harris

Alex Batsford

Menu

Pan fried fillet of cod with a risotto of st georges mushroom, and wild garlic with a parmesan foam.

Cep coated pork fillet, pork and black pudding bon bon with cider braised potato, beetroot puree and asparagus.

Chocolate fondant with a peanut butter mousse, caramelised banana and a white chocolate sorbet.

3^RD South Birmingham College

Steven Clarke

Gavin Lees

Damian Brown

Menu

Roasted cod dusted with spices on black urid dhal with a coconut and lime sauce.

Poached fillet of pork wrapped in Serrano ham with a pork and porcini mousse, pureed cauliflower, spinach, turned carrots and cocotte potatoes with a pork calvados jus.

White chocolate and ginger panna cotta sautéed balsamic and thyme strawberries with vanilla shortbread.

Other Finalist’s

North Warwickshire and Hinckley College

University College Birmingham

North East Worcestershire College

Bournemouth and Poole College

City College Norwich

Redbridge College

www.brakesgroup.com

On Monday at Blackpool & Fylde, the TUCO/Knorr Chef of the Year competition which was in its fifth and final year of sponsorship by Knorr, consisted of seven competitors from TUCO members across the UK. Commencing at 12 noon, the seven competitors had to produce a three course meal for two persons in two hours and consisting of:

Starter – Using pasta of your choice

Main course – Using Fresh Salmon as your main ingredient

Dessert – A dessert of your choice.

Within the criteria the competitors had to use four of the following Knorr products

• KNORR Bouillon
• KNORR Pureed Herb (Garlic, Paprika, Mixed Herbs, Basil, Garlic, Mixed Peppercorns)
• KNORR Gravy
• Hellmans Vinaigrette
• KNORR Ready to use sauce
• Garde ‘d or Coulis, either Raspberry, Mango or Blackcurrant
• Garde ‘d or Meadowland DCA 

The event was facilitated by Jeremy Sear, national account manager of Unilever. He commented.

“The standard goes up each year, because the guys here know the standards expected, they put extra work into it to get it right. I don’t like the dishes to be over-complicated. I think that sometimes the flavours over-complicate themselves. It’s been very good though, and I think that’s a testament to the organising committee.

“This is the last year that Knorr is sponsoring the event, which is a real shame, but I’m sure we’ll come back.”

Judged by Chris Basten Vice chairman of the Craft Guild of Chefs, Russ Allen the TUCO competition committee chairman and Tim Franklin-Heys, Business development Chef for Unilever.

The winner and taking Gold was Robert Stordy – University of Derby. Producing.

• Starter: Noodles, Shitaki Mushrooms, Szechuan vegetable and Chicken Broth
• Main course: Pave of Salmon, Fennel and Asparagus Risotto, Shelfish Nage reduction
• Sweet: Amaretto Panna cotta, Berry and lemon compote, Salted Pistachio Tuille

Robert took away £300 first prize, trophy, certificate and a set of knives.    

The other two runners up were;

Silver,  Allan Jones – Keele University

Bronze, Richard Williams – University of Chester

On Tuesday, also at the college, saw the Chefs Team Challenge and the TUCO/ CUBO food service Competition

The Chefs Team Challenge in its 19th year was kindly sponsored by, Aubrey Allen catering Butchers, Churchill China, 3663 and Major Stock bases.

Consisting of three Chefs in each team, 17 teams competed in two heats (morning and afternoon) each having to produce a four course meal for four covers in two hours. The criteria for the competition was;

• Amuse Bouche of Vegetarian Soup of teams Choice.
• Starter of teams choice using Salmon supplied by 3663.
• Main Course of teams Choice using Rack of lamb and Lambs Kidneys supplied by Aubrey Allen catering Butchers.
• Dessert of team’s choice but excluding Ice Cream, Sorbet or Granita.

One dish must have included one item from the range of Major Stock bases and all dishes had to be presented on crockery supplied by Churchill China.

The competition was judged by: Peter Griffiths MBE, Salon Director of Hotelympia and President of the British Culinary Federation, Christopher Basten Vice Chairman of the Craft guild of Chefs, Paul Gould OBE retired Executive Chef of the NEC group, Jerry Toth, Operations Director of the Sundial Group, Alan Whatley, Chairman of the Association of  Pastry Chefs, Nigel Haworth of the Michelin Starred restaurant  Northcote Manor in Langho, Lancashire and Geoff Ward of the Institute for Environmental Hygiene who scrutinised the teams on their hygiene practises. 

“It’s a pleasure to see so many teams today,” said Peter Griffiths MBE, chair of judges. “We have seen a very good standard. All the plates have been good, a lot of decent and clean presentation, good flavours, balanced, and some sensible portion sizes. It’s a pleasure to see. TUCO is always special to me and has been for many years.”

Christopher Basten commented “I’ve been judging in these competitions for three years, and the standard really does go up every year,” “It’s fantastic. You can tell that the ingredients they’re using this year are more spring orientated, as spring is waking up. Everyone has got right into the challenge – they’re all very keen. They’re all working very well with good ingredients and there are some good strong menus across all the competitions. It’s good to see the same people, but that doesn’t effect judgement at all – it’s taste and flavours at the end of the day.”

Even Judge Nigel Haworth spoke of his fond memory of TUCO as an organisation.

“I’ve never judged here before, but I’ve had a link with TUCO for the last five years, where I’ve done things up and down the country,”

 “Competing is great thing. Challenge and competition are the best things for young and mature chefs to do. It examines you as a chef and how you work under a different kind of pressure.”

The Chefs Team Challenge prize winners in order are:

Gold – University of Exeter

Silver – University of Kent

Bronze – University of Birmingham

Highly Commended Menu – University of Warwick

Highly Commended Amuse Bouche – University of Reading

Highly Commended Fish Course – Durham University

Highly Commended Main Course – Imperial College London

Highly Commended Dessert – University of Chester

Best Hygiene – Pembroke College Oxford

Best Newcomer – University of Chester

At the same time the Chefs were competing, the TUCO/CUBO food service competition was held in the college’s restaurant.  

After a series of paper judging, 10 finalists serving four guests over the lunch period, was judged on table layout including a floral decoration, menu design, service preparation, customer care, food service skills including silver served food and beverage skills.

The standard was very high with some great looking tables and tentative service.

TUCO/CUBO Food Service Challenge prize winners were:

Gold – Emma Bell – Keele University

Silver – Jenna Beech – University of Birmingham

Bronze – Joe Smith – Durham University

All awards for the two day competitions and with 370 guests attending, were presented at an awards dinner held at the Hilton hotel Blackpool.

 The Gold winners of the Chefs team Challenge commented,

“It was a fantastic experience really. “We didn’t have any expectations of getting an award to be honest. The competition went really smoothly and all our times were spot on. We said to each other after we finished, ‘whatever comes of it, comes of it’.

“We thought it had gone as well as it could have done, but then throughout the evening, you see all the awards handed out, and by the time Silver has been and gone, you’re pretty sure that there’s nothing coming your way. Then all of a sudden… Gold”

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