Wessex Salon makes a return
After a break of almost 14 years, the Wessex Salon Culinaire is set to make a return at the Bournemouth Hotel and Catering Exhibition on 9-10 March.
The two days of competition will include the Major Culinary Challenge, live classes, display classes and competitions for local chefs, such as the Wessex Shield challenge for chefs aged over 24 and the Rungis Junior Chef of the Year competition.
The return of the event bucks the trend that has seen many of the smaller, regional salons close. "We felt there was a need for a salon in the South of England," said Steve Scuffell, competition co-ordinator for the Craft Guild of Chefs, which is helping to organise the event. "Otherwise no one gets the chance to practise before the major events like Hotelympia."
He added that the event was particularly aimed at younger chefs, providing them with the chance to learn new skills and, for many, take part in a competition for the first time.
The competition will be hosted at the Bournemouth Pavilion, next door to the main exhibition space in the Bournemouth International Centre.
For more information about the show, or to request entry forms, contact Gilly Nicol on 01323 414328 or visit www.wessexsalonculinaire.co.uk. Entries must be received by 1 March.
New Competition for Junior Chefs
Food marketing group Tastes of Anglia has launched a competition in the East of Britain for chefs aged 21 and under.
Designed to promote local produce, the competition asks chefs to produce a three-course menu for two people including a hot salad main course. Entries will be judged on paper and finalists picked to prepare their main courses at the Chilford Hall annual food and trade fair, near Cambridge, on 27-28 February.
Chefs will have 45 minutes to prepare their recipes and there is no limit on cost. The competition is open to any chef working in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Competitors can be individuals or in teams of two.
First prize is a week's stage at the Swan Hotel, Southwold, winner of this year's regional Tourist Board's East of England Hotel of the Year.
For more information on the fair and competition entry forms, contact Julie West on 01473 785883 or at julie@tastesofanglia.com or visit www.tastesofanglia.com.