This September, Mövenpick Ice Cream proudly announced the winner of its annual Gourmet Dessert Chef of the Year competition as Louise Jayne Rigden from Royal Opera House, who’s textured Manjari chocolate dessert with Mövenpick Raspberry Sorbet captured the judges’ attention and stole the show.
Compered by chocolatier Will Torrent, Louise Jayne Rigden battled it out against five other finalists – Howing Lai (Café Royal Hotel, London), Biju Joshwa (London Marriott County Hall), Zac Dearden (Design House Restaurant, Halifax), Andrew Saupe (Combined Services Culinary Arts Team, Winchester) and Paul O’Malley (Culcreuch Castle, Fintry, Scotland) – in a bid to be crowned this year’s champion.
With only one hour to create their dish, the heat was on for the six finalists, who were all eager to impress the esteemed panel of five judges. Ruth Hinks (current UK World Chocolate Master), Cherish Finden (Head Pastry Chef, The Langham), Joe Lutrario (Features Editor, Restaurant Magazine), Sheila Eggleston (Food and Drink Editor, Eat Out & Cost Sector Catering Magazines) and Tim Futter (Mövenpick Ice Cream Consultant Development Chef) observed the finalists in action, assessing their culinary skills and working method, which formed part of
the criteria to identify the Gourmet Dessert Chef 2014 winner.
With the timings for each finalist staggered by a mere five minutes, it was nail-bitingly tense as, one by one, each presented the judges with their dishes. Knowing they could do no more, the finalists waited with baited breath as the judges deliberated for over an hour to come to the competition’s most difficult decision.
Cherish Finden comments: “The standard this year was higher than ever before, so judging the competition was not only incredibly exciting, it was also very hard!”
After much consideration, it was Louise Jayne Rigden’s textured Manjari chocolate dessert that stood out and brought her victory as this year’s winner. Brought to life with Mövenpick Raspberry Sorbet, the recipe also used grue nougatine, orange zest and sea salt to create a dessert with balanced flavours and outstanding taste.
Praised for her artistic merit and innovative use of Mövenpick Ice Cream, Louise comments, “I feel so proud to have won this year’s Mövenpick Gourmet Dessert Chef of the Year competition. I worked hard to make sure my dish incorporated well-balanced flavours and textures, so am delighted the judges felt I achieved this. The Mövenpick Raspberry Sorbet was a perfect accompaniment to the dish, due to its strong consistency and intense flavour that paired wonderfully with the chocolate.”
Rigden will receive a luxury two-day spa break in Edinburgh, along with an exclusive, one-on-one chocolate showpiece course with Ruth Hinks at her Cocoa Black Chocolate & Pastry School in Peebles. Whilst honing a range of techniques, including carving, modelling and structural assembly, Louise will have the opportunity to create an artistic 1.2 metre high chocolate showpiece.
First runner up Biju Joshwa and second runner up Zac Dearden were also commended for the taste and presentation of their creations – ‘Raspberry & Fennel’, using Mövenpick Raspberry Sorbet, and ‘Carrot Cake with White Chocolate & Mövenpick Cinnamon Ice Cream’. Both chefs will also attend Ruth’s acclaimed school to enjoy a Make Your Own Chocolate Truffles, Pralines & Ganache course, as well as an overnight stay in Edinburgh.
Ruth Hinks comments, “Today’s competition was all about flavour. The standard was incredibly high and everyone did a fantastic job, but for me chocolate and raspberry is always a winner! I can’t wait to welcome Louise, Biju and Zac to Cocoa Black soon – it will be a joy to have such talented chefs at the school”.
Launched in March 2014, this year’s Gourmet Dessert Chef competition attracted a large number of eligible dessert chefs from across the country. The chefs were required to submit one original recipe so the judges could whittle down the entries to just six finalists. It was these six that were then invited to go head to head in the exhilarating live cook-off.
Mövenpick Ice Cream is a gourmet treat for ice cream lovers, born out of a passion for gastronomy and built on the skill and imagination of the Mövenpick Maîtres Glaciers, from their quest to find the best ingredients, to their commitment to uphold Swiss standards of perfection. Each luxurious Mövenpick flavour contains only naturally sourced ingredients and no artificial additives or colours. The reward is a subtlety of flavour and texture, along with a uniquely creamy lightness that no artificial ingredients can match.
For more information, visit www.moevenpick-icecream.co.uk.
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