Simon Hulstone wins place in Bocuse d'Or final
Simon Hulstone, chef-proprietor of the Michelin-starred Elephant bar and restaurant in Torquay, Devon, has secured a place in the final of the Bocuse d'Or culinary competition.
Hulstone together with his commis chef Jordan Bailey finished in fourth position at the European finals of the Bocuse d'Or, which were held in Geneva on 7 and 8 June. He is one of 12 chefs to have qualified for the main event, which will be held in Lyon in January 2011.
Denmark's Kofoed Rasmus won the Bocuse d'Or Europe, with Norway's Gunnar Hvarnes finishing second and Jérôme Jaegle
of France in third place.
The full results were:
• Denmark, Kofoed Rasmus
• Norway, Gunnar Hvarnes
• France, Jérôme Jaegle
• UK, Simon Hulstone
• Sweden, Tommy Myllymaki
• Finland, Matti Jämsen
• Switzerland, Frank Giovannini
• Iceland, Thrainn Freyr Vigfusson
• Spain, Juan Andrés Morilla
• Netherlands, Marco Poldervaart
• Germany, Ludwig Heer
• Poland, Rafal Jelewski
The judging panel included 20 judges from the competing countries, with Brian Turner, president of the Academy of Culinary Arts which is responsible for the British entry at the Bocuse d'Or, representing the UK. There were also three presidents: Daniel Boulud, Philippe Rochat and Fredy Girardet.
Hulstone, who won a special prize for the best meat dish, told Caterer he was relieved to have secured a place in Lyon.
I'm totally amazed. I didn't think we'd be anywhere near that. Right now I can't say more," he said.
Turner added: "It a fantastic achievement. After he won meat we hoped he be in the top five."
Hulstone was supported by his family and a group of nearly 30 industry professionals who went along to Geneva thanks to Gourmet Classic.
The competing chefs were asked to use Norwegian halibut and Swiss veal as their main ingredients and had 5:35 hours to complete their two dishes.
For the first platter, Hulstone served ballotine of Norwegian halibut poached in seaweed stock with a custard of langoustine and summer pea with wild fennel pollen, young carrots braised in Cornish sea buckthorn with golden beetroot, Scottish smoked salmon and langoustine tartare, pickled onion and Devon flora, while the halibut will be dressed with a butter verjus and spring onion sauce.
The Swiss veal platter, meanwhile, was served with black pudding and rolled in pistachio, accompanied by a sweetbread and garlic sausage, cauliflower and Parmesan cutlet, braised red beetroot with goat's cheese and truffle, Devon asparagus with peas and wild mushrroms, foie gras button and a Madeira and truffle jus. Although Hulstone only needed to serve two garnishes, he also prepared braised cheeks.
For full coverage of the Bocuse d'Or Europe, see next week's issue of Caterer.
Video: Simon Hulstone flies the flag for Great Britain at Bocuse d'Or >>
Simon Hulstone: cooking for his country at the Bocuse d'Or >>By Kerstin Kühn
E-mail your comments to Kerstin Kühn here.
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