Scottish Chef of the Year
It was third time lucky last week for Garry Watson of Gordon's restaurant in Inverkeilor, Angus, when he clinched the premier competition title at the Scothot exhibition in Glasgow - the Brakes Scottish Chef of the Year accolade.
Watson, who cooks alongside his father in the small family restaurant set up by his parents 15 years ago, has competed in the biennial competition twice before, and won a bronze in 2001 behind Scott Dougall of Craigsanquhar House hotel in Logie, Fife.
"I learnt a lot from the previous times I competed," he said. "I tended to overelaborate on the dishes then, but this year I just concentrated on intense flavours and let the produce speak for itself."
The 26-year-old used local produce where possible in his four-course competition menu - Arbroath smokies ("They're just beside us in Angus") and Scottish venison played prominent parts, although the cooking style was firmly rooted in modern French. The sparing use of more exotic ingredients such as kohlrabi gave his dishes a contemporary spin.
Watson's menu comprised tian of Arbroath smokie brandade with crushed avocado and gazpacho sauce; cappuccino of artichoke, cauliflower and white truffle velouté with little herb scones; cannon of venison with chanterelle mushroom pithivier, spiced red cabbage and pears, kohlrabi fondant, white bean soubise and venison jus; Valrhona chocolate fondant and warm chocolate fudge cake with prune, Armagnac ice-cream and orange, mango and cardamom syrup.
Along with his nine fellow finalists, Watson had three-and-a-half hours to cook the menu for a four-cover sitting. "I didn't feel that I cooked too well in the semi-final, but by the time of the final I felt that I'd perfected the dishes," he commented.
Watson wins a cash prize of £2,500 in addition to the title and competition trophy.
Winner
Garry Watson, Gordon's restaurant, Inverkeilor.
Runners-up
David Edwards, Glenrothes College; Pamela Fowlis, Glenrothes College; and Angela Tannahill, Moorfield House hotel.
Craft Guild Competitions for juniors
The Craft Guild of Chefs is staging a series of culinary classes across the country designed to give young chefs a first taste of the competition circuit.
Sponsored by Major International, the Culinary Challenge and Mini Series are open to chefs aged under 23. The former requires contestants to prepare two chicken dishes in 30 minutes, while the Mini Series comprises 10 display classes covering meat, fish, vegetarian and dessert courses as well as a class for amuse-bouches.
The competitions will be held at venues across the UK over the next two months, and gold, silver and bronze medals, as appropriate, will be awarded to competing chefs. The highest-scoring competitors will attend a presentation dinner at Bournemouth and Poole College in May.
The first of the series is due to take place at Westminster Kingsway College in London on 16 April.
For more information contact the Craft Guild of Chefs on 020 8948 3870 or e-mail john.retallick@craft-guild.org.
Avenance chef wins British Meat title
A belly of pork dish with a touch of Africa has helped Dennis Mwakulua, directors' head chef at Avenance's contract at London law firm Meyer Brown Rowe & Maw, become British Meat Contract Catering Chef of the Year.
Mwakulua - who is also Avenance's reigning Chef of the Year, having won the company's internal title last June - managed to woo judges with a belly of Norfolk pork roasted then braised in a tamarind reduction, accompanied by sweet potato cooked in caramel and coconut milk, and kachumbari salad.
The dish, although made with British pork, has its roots in Mwakulua's childhood in Kenya, where kachumbari salad is traditionally served with roast meat.
"My dad used to make it - it's really a type of salsa made with onion, salt, lemon, chillies and coriander," he explained. "I just added some red pepper brunoise and pineapple to give it a bit of sweetness."
British Meat development chef Tony O'Reilly, the chairman of the judges, said the dish had a really interesting combination of flavours, with a contrast of sweet and acidic ingredients.
"The eating quality of the pork was superb and the accompanying salad was refreshing and light," he said. "This was a simple, economical dish which brought new and exciting flavours to an underused cut of meat."
British Meat Contract Catering Chef of the Year is one of seven annual titles awarded to various sectors of the industry in the event staged by British Meat under its Chef of the Year banner. It was the last category to be judged and followed hot on the heels of the award of Public Sector Chef of the Year, won by Robert Strachan from Southampton General Hospital in Hampshire.
Strachan and his five fellow finalists had to produce a dish costing less than 55p using British pork, beef or lamb, and it was his pork and leek crumble with mustard mash and fresh steamed vegetables that won the day.
Both Strachan and Mwakulua, along with their four fellow Chef of the Year category winners, now go forward to compete for the overall title of British Meat Chef of the Year 2003. The winner will be announced at a lunch taking place at London's Connaught hotel on Monday 31 March.