So for now that's it for our brave three Lions, three champions already, even before the result, we now all wait and one thing these awards do tend to do is go on.
It's a strange occasion watching the teams as they work and toil away, camera's capture every angle, and beam enlarged figures across two huge screens, the Bocuse really does caterer for the viewer.
The crowd today really has been outstanding as in my earlier blog post the atmosphere is truly electric, I'm sure that this must translate to the teams.
Rasmus who is the Danish candidate, looked to set the earlier pace, he was in the Kitchen, three and therefore one of the first chefs and nations to present his monkfish, platter, a very detailed presentation, visually it looked good, ornate and pearl like.
There is a precession of presentations , that are preceded by a musical fanfare that is countdown esq, which alerts the crowd, that a nation is due to serve any time now.
Simon and Kitchen seven looked calm, from what I could see, it appeared to go well, no major panics, Simon is in regular communications with Nick and Jordan, he even has the time to watch and study as other nations parade their work, and tool on the marathon that is the service parade protocol .
Team UK are bang on with their Monkfish, not a minute early, not a minute late, at 2.30pm local time horns sound Union Jacks waves people chant and cheer as the MC announces team UK dish, months of endless work stress, travel and meeting, are onto the main screens.
America quickly follow suit, as it passes the judges table Mr Keller nods and raises a smile, what an endorsement? Now we have meat and fish platters, being plated and presented, fish goes to one set of judges, the meat (lamb) to the others fans compete to be heard .
Team UK are again ready and on time, looking relaxed they carefully pass over the meat platter, and at that moment, there must be a sense of sheer relief, you're on the home straight, it's downhill from here on in.
Simon has an extra touch with both his courses, with the lamb here serves individual shepherd's pie, using the trimming, and offal, this tasted stunning in Torquay, a real cheffy touch.
We watch as hands plate and assemble the garnish, the Scottish lamb saddle is carved, it's arranged with great care every garnish has its correct and exact place, it's sauced, and despatched, that's it, they wait, we wait the nation waits.......... The Staff Canteen team are taking a different approach to keeping our website independent and delivering content free from commercial influence. Our Editorial team have a critical role to play in informing and supporting our audience in a balanced way. We would never put up a paywall – The Staff Canteen is open to all and we want to keep bringing you the content you want; more from younger chefs, more on mental health, more tips and industry knowledge, more recipes and more videos. We need your support right now, more than ever, to keep The Staff Canteen active. Without your financial contributions this would not be possible.
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