Matt Jaynes, head chef at the global headquarters of financial technology firm Fidessa, has been named Lexington Catering’s LexChef 2008.
Jaynes, who scooped the title following a cook-off at Westminster Kingsway College last week, won a culinary trip to Italy where he will meet growers and visit food markets.
The competitors – who included Steve Reece, Brad Lovaas, Leon Johnstone, Anthony Russell and Oliver Jordan – were asked to cook a two-course meal for four covers.
They were judged by Gordon Ramsay Holdings’ Jason Atherton, chef-director of Maze, London; Andre Garrett, head chef at Galvin at Windows, London; and Amanda Afiya, web editor of Caterersearch.com.
All competitors, including the semi-finalists, received a signed copy of Maze: The Cookbook, written by Atherton and published this year.
The winning dishes from Jaynes comprised Loch Duart salmon tatin with thyme caramel, wild mushrooms and watercress sauce and apple and maple doughnut on pommes fondant with an apple mousse and biscuit dust.
He said: “I chose a salmon tatin to demonstrate how a classic tatin can be versatile and reworked into a savoury dish using, in this instance, top quality fish. I think the thyme caramel fused well with the dish and gave it a new and complementary dimension. My dessert enabled me to offer apple in three very different ways – a mousse, a fondant and a simple yet delicious doughnut.”
He added: “I am extremely honoured to receive the title and to be recognised for the work I do within Lexington, especially as there were so many talented chefs who had entered the competition, so it makes the award even more special for me.”
Lexington Catering also used the event to unveil their 2009 calendar which featured children from Great Ormond Street. The calendar will raise money for the children’s hospital and has been dedicated to photographer Sam Bailey, who took all the food photographs, who died in a skydiving accident earlier this year.
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By Amanda Afiya
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