Excellence Adventure
The chef and pastry finalists for this year's Academy of Culinary Arts Annual Awards of Excellence have now been announced.
The competition is split into three categories - chefs, pastry chefs and waiters (see Caterer, 27 February, page 16 for service finalists) - and is aimed at professionals under the age of 26. It rewards all candidates who achieve the standard of excellence of 70%. Finalists will be tested on a range of relevant culinary skills in their specialist areas at Thames Valley University's Ealing site on 16 April.
The highest scorers in each section will also be rewarded with a scholarship worth £1,500 and an additional £500 courtesy, respectively, of sponsors the Savoy Educational Trust and the British Hospitality Association.
Judges include John Williams, executive chef of Claridge's, London, David Dorricott, executive chef of the House of Commons and Yolande Stanley, head pastry lecturer at Thames Valley University.
The pastry finalists are Andrew Ditchfield, House of Commons, London; Daniel Fletcher, Mandarin Oriental hotel, London; Debbie Gagen, the Sloane Club, London; Hetti Hillman, Dorchester, London; Chris Nurse, Carlton Tower hotel, London; Craig Teasdale, Cliveden, Berkshire.
The chef finalists are David Bush, House of Commons, London; Robert Chambers, RAC Club, London; Neal Dove, Hazelwood Castle, Tadcaster, North Yorkshire; Peter Eaton, Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, Oxfordshire; Robert Goodman, Ashdown Park hotel, Forest Row, East Sussex; Darren Goodwin, World Service, Nottingham; Boel Horsvall, L'Escargot - Picasso Room, London; Neil Howell, Bedford Arms hotel, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire; Mark Jones, White Hart, Great Yeldham, Essex; Goran Kovacevic, Claridge's, London; Nicholas Parnell, Unilver Bestfoods, Crawley, East Sussex; Robert Taylor, Royal Garden hotel, London; Ben Webb, Harvey's restaurant, Bristol; Matthew Woolf, Claridge's, London.
* www.academyofculinaryarts.org.uk
Taj mahal at the double
For the second year a chef from the five-star Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai has won the International Indian Chef of the Year Competition, held last month in Edinburgh.
Victor Shyam Longani, 27, who walked away with the title and a £1,000 prize, impressed the judges with a menu that included spicy prawns with crab and lamb shanks.
"It was a class above the rest. It was very modern, very impressive Indian fine dining, with very clean flavours," said one judge of Longani's presentation.
Second place went to Chad Rahman, from Mumtaz Indian Cuisine in St Albans, Hertfordshire, while Dahrma Maharjan, of Khukuri restaurant in Edinburgh, was third.
Entrants had to submit four dishes, two with fish, meat or poultry, and two vegetarian. Each could spend up to £50 on raw materials. After paper judging, six competitors were then chosen from an original list of more than 5,000, and asked to cook their dishes at the final at Queen Margaret University College.
Judges included Cyrus Todiwala, executive chef and owner of Café, Spice Namaste, and Fiona Hyslop, MSP for the Lothians.
College students take note
If you're aged between 18 and 25, are on a full- or part-time catering course at college and think you have the talent required to win the Gordon Ramsay Scholar 2003 College Award, get your pen out now.
Closing date for entries is 23 April, and entrants are required to submit the recipe for their favourite dish along with a 100-word explanation of why it gets their taste-buds flowing.
Up for grabs, among other things, is £1,000, a trip to a European Michelin-starred restaurant and vineyard, and a year's subscription to Caterer. For entry forms, phone 01737 224324 or e-mail ramsay.scholar@virgin.net.