Acorn Scholarship

On Saturday 25th September 2010, celebrity chef Brian Turner helped raise just over £4500 for the Calabash Trust at Strictly Come Dining 2010.

Held at the Pinewood Hotel in George Green, the event was organised by patissier and chocolatier Will Torrent and Francesca Bifolco, in order to raise funds for children in the townships of South Africa.

Last summer, Francesca travelled to Port Elizabeth with Calabash Trust UK where she saw the poverty and segregation that still exists in South Africa. She was able along with a group of friends to help teach the children, build playing fields and fix water problems. During her speech, Francesca commented;

“It was one of the most overwhelming experiences of my life and when we build the playing field the head teacher of the school told us, we had not just built a playing field, we had built them a stadium for kids to shine, discover fun, laughter and develop as amazing citizens. That’s why we are here tonight!”

This trip changed her life and Francesca approached Will Torrent to find an innovative way to raise funds - Strictly Come Dining 2010 was the answer!

The black tie evening saw over 100 guests enjoy a champagne reception sponsored by Laithwaites Wines and canapés created by Future chef 2009 winner Luke Thomas. After a very heartfelt welcome by Francesca, the Great British Menu style dinner began. Beginning with Luke Thomas’ Amuse bouche of Cauliflower Veloute with truffle foam and golden raisin, followed by a starter of Lincolnshire poacher with sweetcorn custard, salad and walnut toast created by The Pinewood Hotel’s Head Chef, Phil Currie.

After the sumptuous feaste started, the guests were told exactly where their money would go. Duncan Hewson (co founder of Calabash Trust UK) outlined that funds raised from Strictly Come Dining 2010 will be transferred to Calabash Trust South Africa where they will be used to fund the ongoing Lavela Project in the poverty stricken black township of Ramaphosa, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. This will ensure that at least for the next year the pre-school education and feeding programme for over 60 children each and every day, can continue. Speaking after the event, Duncan commented;

“What a cracking night. If ever an evening captured the laughter, warmth and generosity of friendship that epitomises both the Calabash Trust and more importantly the very people in the black townships we are all trying to assist then this was it. Good food, good music, good company and good people. I can only hope this is the beginning of a genuine friendship between two parts of the world where food can be the unifying theme."

Brian Turner CBE then presented the main course of Stuffed Saddle of English lamb, butter braised cabbage, fondant potatoes and parsley and mint gravy. Following the main course, Brian helped present the amazing prizes that were won, including a morning in the kitchens of The Waterside Inn and lunch, signed Chelsea and Arsenal Football club shirts, signed celebrity chef books, Robert Welch signature chef knives, comedy club tickets, racing days, beauty days and products and more. Brian commented;

“What we must remember is that we are very lucky here tonight, as we know tomorrow that we can put on a clean shirt and live comfortably, for those people in South Africa that isn’t the case and I hope tonight you will realise that and dig deep!”

The dessert was then prepared by Will Torrent and Alistair Birt (WorldSkills Calgary 2009 Medallion of Excellence Winner and Chocolatier at William Curley). A chocolate and raspberry celebration with ingredients sponsored by Ritter Couravaud. With petit fours sponsored by Town & Country, the stage was being set up for the entertainment. Featuring three of the top jazz musicians in the UK, Simon Colam on Piano, Dave Olney on Bass and Harold Fisher on Drums, Will donned his tuxedo and microphone instead of his chef whites and whisk to entertain the guests with songs inspired by Sinatra, Bublé, Cullum and Cole to the early hours of Sunday morning.

The event was a huge success and what was more important was that we doubled what we were aiming for financially and now know that we have gone a long way in helping sustain the feeding programme for nearly all of 2011.

Today I met Luke Johnson from Risk Capital Partners who was previously chairman of Channel 4 and current Chairman and part-owner of Superbrands, Giraffe, Patisserie Valerie and Baker & Spice.

One of my Acorn mentors; James Horler, put me in touch with Luke to discuss my business ideas and plans of the future and it was a brilliant insight from someone at the top into what I'm going to be stepping into a few years down the line.

It was great to meet him and I definatley leant a lot and have a lot to think about such as Partners, location, branding...the list goes on...whcih is good!

Today was the professional highlight of my Acorn Scholarship year! Today saw 5 of the top patissiers and chocolatiers sound round a table on the top floor of The Gherkin answering MY questions about business and all things sweet. Joining me were my mentor Jane Sunley who co-chaired the event with myself and Jon Reed, Chairman of the Acorn Scholarship. The panel consisted of William Curley (Best Chocolatier' in the consecutive years 2007,2008 and 2009 by The Academy of Chocolate), Paul A Young (Of  Paul A Young Fine Chocolates Ltd and recently been awarded Best Chocolate Book in the World by the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards), Eric Lanlard (of Cake Boy and cake-maker for celebrity events, including the weddings of Madonna and Guy Ritchie, Claudia Schiffer and Elizabeth Hurley), Chantel Coady (founder of Rococo Chocolates, Kings Road (1983) and Marylebone High St) and Claire Clark MCA (who was the executive pastry chef at Thomas Keller’s three-Michelin-star The French Laundry restaurant in California up until last year).

Over afternoon tea, we discussed everything from starting out and what inspired people to set their own buisnesses up to packaging, PR and giving the customers what they want. All the panel were so open and very keen to share their experiences with me and I was completly bowled over by their generosity and support for what I want to do. The debate will be featured in Caterer & Hotelkeeper in the next month or so! I'd like to take this oppurtunity to thank Acorn, Caterer and all the panelists for their help, guidence, understanding and just being so brilliant! Photos coming soon

Yet again, another busy week, and haven;t had time to write a post for each so here it all is in one!

Last Monday I travelled down to Bristol on behalf of Flora and the "Cooking with Schools" programme. One of the pupil's Mum from Chandig Junior School entered a competition to win lots of equipment for the school plus a mystery chef for the day and that mystery chef was .... Me! Twenty two 8 year olds with no accidents, injuries or shouting is definatley an achievement and both myself and the kids were really pleased with the day . I cooked a tomato pasta, banana bread and some very basic salad to see how much knowledge kids have of vegetables etc. They were all really enthusiastic and really got the message about healty eating and believing in themselves which was excellent. A very rewarding day and also quite inspiring too! Pictures to follow

On Sunday I took part in a chat-show style debate on behalf of UKSkills at The Sunday Times' Festical of Eductaion at Wellington College near Reading, Berks. The slot entitiled "Vocational Education leads to Success" featured myself, David Harbourne from Edge, Lord Kenneth Baker and Charlotte Burford who won the Bronze Medal at WorldSkills Calgary 2009 for the UK, plus questions and interaction from the audience. We discussed the importance of vocational education to a lot of young people and also how much of a divide there is between vocational and academic education and particulary how the media, government and other bodies seem to 'look down' on vocational education and not in the same voice as Oxbridge degrees and so on. It was argued about whether young people particulary before beginning diplomas or apprenticiships have been to visit FE or HE colleges/universites to discover what vocations are out there. My argument almost immediately was that we have a fantastic oppurtunity next October - a year before the Olympic Games here in London, to get all the kids in London and beyond to visit one of the four days of competiton at WorldSkills London 2011 which is happening at ExCel. This was met by great applause and pleasing to know that the message about WorldSkills and the importance of vocational education is getting across!

And finally...today I took part in a bread course with Richard Bertinet at London's Cucina Caldesi. Richard has a school in Bath and very unusal way of making the dough which was SO inspiring and very exciting to create along side him. Some wonderful bread products were made and certainly gave me food for thought for my future patisserie plans. Again photos to follow shortly.

Thursday night saw the Craft Guild of Chefs Awards 2010 held at the Lancaster London. The theme was pure skill, pure talent and pure magic. A really lovely menu and wine was follwed by the awards. At least this year I wasn't as nervous as last year being nominated for the Young Chef Award - I won last year and this year I was really pleased to see Adam Smith receieve the award. Adam who is Sous Chef at The Ritz under the leadership of John Williams last year won only the second gold for UK at WorldSkills Canada 2009. Adam actually started his WorldSkills journey back in 2006 when I firt started my WorldSkills journey. Although Adam didn't get through the team for 2007, he cam back stronger and a better chef to lft the ultimate crown last September. Sarah Hartnett won the well deserved award for Pastry Chef of the Year . Sarah is Head Pastry Chef at The Sheraton Park Lane Hotel. Congratulations to both. The Special Award ths year went to the 'chef's Chef' - Pierre Koffman who receieved a standing ovation from all the guests. A great night and good chance to meet loads of people and some good friends too.

I had an amzing email from Alain Roux from the Waterside today, and am completley overwhelmed by it.

I'm currently organsing a charity event called "Strictly Come Dining" on Saturday 25th September at The Pinewood Hotel in aid of Calabash Trust which will raise money for children in the townships of South Africa, mainly Port Elizabeth (where the England team will hopefully win tomorrow!!!).  The black tie evening will have a champagne reception for which Laithwaites Wines have donated the champagne, followed by 4 course dinner cooked by Luke Thomas  (Futurechef winner and very talented young chef), The Pinewood Hotel, a guest Celebrity chef and I will be doing the dessert along with Alistair Birt, that has ingredients sponsored by Graham Beaumont of Fifi.The evening will culminate after an aucton with entertainment from some of the UK's top Jazz musicians who are regulary featured in the bands of "Strictly Come Dancing", "Parkinson" and "The X Factor"!

I've been asking companies to donate prizes or sponsorship for the auction and have had some great responses from the likes of Chelsea Football Club, The Fat Duck, Elior, Kempton Park Race Course, The Comedy Club and Barry Callebaut to name but a few. However the email today tops it all!! Now The Waterside being the Waterside doesn't normally give out prizes or donations but have given me an AWESOME auction prize.....for two people, a morning in the kitchen watching mise en place for service with the chefs, followed by the tasting menu and wines for lunch!!!!!!! Alain's generosity is amazing and I hope it will raise lots of money for the great cause. The event is actually sold out completly but if you want to get in touch with a view to prizes, donation or ingredient sponsorship then do contact me! www.willtorrent.com

It's been a while but life has really been busy!  Business at Bachmanns is booming and great news that we have just secured our second site which will be a new build in Weybridge so keep posted to www.bachmanns.co.uk for more info!

Getting really excited at the moment as we are organising a Caterer round table event exclusively for me getting together some of the best chocolatiers and leading buisness men and women to discuss their businesses and what I can do to be different from them in the near future when I hopefully will be able to set my own place up. Guests already include William Curley, Claire Clark, Chantal Coady and Eric Lanlard. Whats also amazing is that it will be at The Gherkin!!!!

Had a lunch today as part of the UKSkills selection competition in Restuarant Service. The competitors were so nervous but having been through it, I knew ewxactly how they were feeling. Best of luck to all the competitors for tomorrow!!!

Another busy week at work coming up including The Craft Guild of Chefs Awards on Thursday night which I'm really looking forward to!

In October 2011 , a year before the 2012 Olympic Games, the prestigious WorldSkills Competition comes to London! WorldSkills is the biggest skills competition in the world and challenges teachers, trainers and young skilled men and woman to compete in over 40 different skills from over 50 different countries/regions and ultimately become the best in the field.

In 2007, when I was 21, I flew to Japan to represent the United Kingdom in the Pastry / Confectionery event. Not many people, other than maybe the Under 21 National Football team, get to say that they have represented their country at 21, and for me that was the instant hook when I was first introduced to WorldSkills by Yolande Stanley MCA. Yolande was my tutor at university and later became my Training Manager for WorldSkills. The training I received was the absolute best; I was lucky enough to go to France and train in some of the top places here in the UK such as Claridges, The Lanesborough and Gleneagles. The physical and mental training myself and the members of the Team got was also invaluable. We were treated like athletes, with physical exercise plans and diets to keep us at tip top condition to compete against the rest of the world. This training resulted in me becoming the highest placed British pastry chef at any WorldSkills competition so far and winning the first coveted Medallion of Excellence, beating France, Germany and Switzerland.

The whole of the UK needs to get behind London in 2012, but first we need your support in 2011 to make sure WorldSkills London 2011 is the best and biggest WorldSkills competition ever! You can support in many different ways and more information can be found worldskillslondon2011.com

Go out and spread the word! Tell people about WorldSkills and get people excited as much as I am about this brilliant competition coming to the capital a year before the Olympic Games in 2012!!

Following the successful Hotelympia weekend, it was full steam ahead at Bachmanns for Mothers Day and Easter preparation. With Bachmanns closed on Sundays and Mondays I always try to make the most out of my weekend and the last few Mondays have been busy doing things.

On Monday 8th March I travelled down to Portsmouth to give a chocolate demonstration and inspirational talk to the students at Highbury College. Having spent time with the colleges Principal, Stella Mbubaegbu CBE in Calgary at the last WorldSkills Competition, I was keen to keep a link with the college as they run hospitality courses. The demo was very well recieved and the students were very keen and interested. Some of them were training for the Wessex Salon Culinaire and I helped them with that as well having judged Hotelympia the week before. I was pleased to hear that they did very well. I was also treated to a 3 course lunch with Jackie Page and Martin Tarbuck in Chimes, the colleges training restaurant - the food was of a very high standard and something the college are and should be proud of, its also open to the public. If you live in Portsmouth or surrounding area, Highbury is the best college down there. For more information : www.higbury.ac.uk 

The following Monday saw me back at my old stomping ground of Thames Valley University where I covered for Yolande Stanley MCA's first year degree class. Having recently completed a term of lecturing there and now used as a part-time lecturer it was again good to pass my skills to other young chefs. At Bachmanns we make wonderful fruit frangipane tarts nearly every day and that was what was needed to be covered in the BSc class whcih was excellent because I know what can go wrong and how to get them perfect and I was really pleased as the students all paid attention to the skills and came out with really great products. TVU have just won the prestigious Queen's Anniversary Prize for outstanding achievement and excellence in hospitality education and earlier in the month Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter John and Professor David Foskett MBE accepted the award on behalf of TVU, which is one of just 21 colleges and universities across the country to win the award and the only modern university in this biennial round to receive the royal accolade from the Queen at Buckingham Palace. In London, TVU is the best place for hospitality and has great lecturers and facilities. For more information: www.tvu.ac.uk

Monday just gone saw the final of the fantastic FutureChef competition hosted by Springboard as Westminster Kingsway College. I've been involved with FutureChef for the last three years and I think its a superb. Kids as young as 12 up to 16 compete to a very high standard and there food is sometimes better that food I have eaten in proper restauarants - they are always so focused and determined and at a young age is so vital and important to their future careers. Not only do they have to cook in a professional kitchen they have never stepped foot in before they are also judged by industry experts who this year included Theo Randell, Lesley Walters, Cyrus Todiwala OBE, Chris Galvin, John Williams and Brian Turner. ALthough I didn't judge this year like the previous two finals, I really enjoyed the day helping out in the kitchen watching the amazing young talent on show and seeing what potential they all had. The winner was announced by Brian Turner as sixteen year old Kerry Johansen from the North West who works on match days at Everton Football Club. Speaking to Brian Turner who is the Chairman of FutureChef;
"FutureChef is an inspirational programme which gives young people a wonderful insight into this fabulous industry. Every single young person who takes part in FutureChef displays an enthusiasm that the hospitality industry would be proud of, but the twelve National Finalists and in particular the winners are the absolute cream of the FutureChef 2010 crop.
It was an excellent day and very inspiring to see the competitiors work brilliantly and I hope to be writing about the next one next year.

As my first blog as Acorn Scholar 2010, I thought I'd tell you a little bit about me before telling you about this past weekend's Hotelympia competition.

I'm a pastry chef at the award winning Bachmanns Patisserie in Thames Ditton and have worked there for 2 years along side 3 other pastry chefs and occaisionally the renowned Ernst Bachmanns who has trained some of the modern great pastry chefs. Long before working at Bachmanns I began my culinary career at The Fat Duck at 15 when I did a work experience week with Heston that would change my life forever! Continuing through school and A-Levels, I then began my degree at Thames Valley University where I met my tutor and mentor, Yolande Stanley MCA. Yolande introduced me to WorldSkills and I will blog soon about WorldSkills. I finsihed TVU with a 1st Class Honours degree before flying to Japan alongside 25 other young skilled men and women to compete against the rest of the world at the prestigious four day competition. By the end of it, I became the first British pastry chef to win the coveted Medallion Of Excellence and gaining 6th place beating the likes of France, Germany and Switzerland. Last year I was awarded the Young Chef Award by the Craft Guild of Chefs.

After Japan I wanted to keep competing and last weekend saw the Hotelympia competition at ExCel in London. Hotelympia is a major hospitality show that happens every two years and encompasses the Salon Culinaire de Londres which is a collection of static and live competitions. On Sunday I was competiting in my first senior class at my first Hotelympia. Having worked frantically on my tea pastries the week before at work which included a Coffee and chocolate pyramid, Passionfruit and Strawberry charlotte, cherry and chocolate linzer tart and pistachio choux bun amonst others, I was extremeley pleased with my Silver medal position.

Getting good constructive feedback from the judges was excellent and I will certainly learn from this for next year's Hospitality competition at the NEC. On Monday and Tuesday I was privilidged enough to be asked to judge similar competitions both in junior and senior classes. I thourghly enjoyed the judging experience as I learned lots of new skills which will hopefully also help me for competiting. On the Monday I also did a demonstration along side Yolande (me mentor) and Alistair Birt, who alongside Yolande, I helped train for the 2009 WorldSkills in Calgary (which I was also at in a UK Ambassadorial role to the Premiere Experience). He also won a Medallion of Excellence and has become a great friend. Demonstarting different chocolate techniques included a "Ready, Steady Cook" style competition which saw both me and Alistair make a centre piece out of chocolate against the clock. A great afternoon and well received by the audience. On the Tuesday I judged the UKSkills "Search for A Star" competition which is the first heat of the competitior shortlisting process for the next WorldSkills competition in London in October 2011. All the competitors did extremely well and I  am looking forward to seeing them compete at the National final in April.

Bachmanns were very proud and pleased of my achievements at Hotelympia and so it's been back to work with preparations in hand for Easter with eggs coming out of all our ears ready to hit our shelves for Mothers Day.

Its been almost a week since the closing date for entries for the Acorn Scholarship 2010 and the applications have been counted and a fantastic 78 of you entered which is fantastic.

What happens now?

Well all the applications are currently being reviewed and a list of finalists will be confirmed by Friday 6th November. We will try and contact all of you that have entered to advise of the status of your application but if you haven't heard from us by Monday 16th November you can assume you have not been successful.

If you are one of the lucky finalists you'll need to make sure that you are available on the following dates:

Monday 9th November 2009  - Telephone interviews with finalists

Friday 20th November 2009  - Judging day at Malmaison Hotel in London

Monday 30th November 2009 - Acorn Scholarship presentation lunch at Abode Hotel in Manchester.

Monday 11th January 2010 - Mentor Lunch (London based venue TBC)

Thanks and good luck  

You should be logging onto www.acornscholarship.org.uk and making sure you get your application for the Acorn Scholarship 2010 in!

Today is the is the last day for entries.

You still there? What are you waiting for?

Good Luck!

The good news is that a massive number of you have been smart and have already sent through your applications for the Acorn Scholarship 2010.

The bads news is that if you haven't yet joined the smart set and applied, you only have until Friday 23rd October (yes this coming Friday) to get your application in.

What are you waiting for?

Visit www.acornscholarship.org.uk for all the information on how to apply and what you can win.

Thanks

The Acorn Scholarship has teamed up with Table Talk to giveaway a great prize every week for the next six weeks - and all you need is to be a member of Table Talk.

So if you are not a member already, sign up now! All members of Table Talk will be included in our prize draw.

This week we have two prizes to giveaway!! The lucky winner this week has a a chance of winner lunch for two at Michael Caines's two-Michelin-starred Gidleigh Park plus a deluxe hamper packed with great products from the food, personnel and home ranges from Unilever Foodsolutions.

If you want a chance to win this great prize, sign up to Table Talk now! Good luck to all new users! Big Smile And don't forget you can still enter the Acorn Scholarship by going to www.acornscholarship.org.uk/

You have just 5 DAYS left to apply for the Acorn Scholarship

Do you have passion and potential?

Do you have the desire to succeed?

If you've answered yes to the above then why not apply for the Acorn Scholarship?

What have you got to lose? It could be your year to be a winner and make a difference.

Interested?

The Scholarship's aim is to seek out up and coming, talented individuals and help them develop and grow their skills.

Visit www.acornscholarship.org.uk to apply and to find out more information - including testimonials from previous winners so you can see just how fantastic an opportunity this is.

Remember this is what you can win:

- A £2,000 bursary to use towards training and education
 - £1,500 worth of learnpurple training
 - A trip to Villeroy and Boch in Luxembourg
 - Development lunch where the winner will meet with leading industry figures and agree their development plan
 - A designated 'mentor' who acts as their guide during their scholarship year
 - Springboard UK Ambassador training
 - Annual subscription to Caterer and Hotelkeeper Magazine

We look forward to receiving your entries and the best of luck to everyone...but make sure you hurry as you’ve only got until Friday to apply.