After speaking to Simon Rogan about the Roux Scholarship and why he’s so far employed three of the past winners it’s now time to talk to these winners in question to ask their memories of the competition and how it helped them. First up is Mark Birchall, executive chef, L’Enclume
Mark first entered the scholarship age 26, but it wasn’t until his fourth attempt in 2011 that he was crowned the winner. Having learnt from his mistakes he knew what the competition was about and what he needed to do in order to impress the judges. “You try and forget they are there,” explained Mark.
“They are just judging the dish at the end of the day. They are looking at how you work, how tidy you are – first impressions count so you want to look smart but fundamentally it’s about food on a plate.” The initial entry involves submitting a recipe which uses the ingredients set out by Roux, Mark says this is key. He explained: “This round is really important because if you don’t impress them with what’s on paper you won’t progress any further. It’s that first impression, the recipe has to make sense, it’s got to sound nice and the costings of that have to be right. It’s definitely worth spending the time getting the paperwork right.” Mark’s regional dish had to include monkfish and a rice based garnish so he chose to create a mussel and wild garlic risotto, grilled leeks and monkfish on the bone wrapped in crispy chicken skin. But what makes a menu good enough to put a chef through to the finals?
“Before your entry you look at the seasonality,” said Mark. “I wanted to use mainly British produce and then it just comes down to practise. I didn’t have a day off until I won, every bit of spare time I had I was practising.” When it comes to the final the chefs have no idea what they will be cooking, they turn up on the day and are presented with a dish, for Mark this was veal orloff. Mark said: “You get a brief and around 20 minutes to research it. It’s usually something served on a big platter and a dish that is not cooked in many restaurants any more. It’s very classical, for example last year’s dish which Tom cooked, Michelle Roux said the last time he cooked it was when he was in the army!”
After winning Mark took up a stage at El Celler de Can Roca, he said: “When you get to the three star status there is so much demand for the chef to go and do things in other countries but this restaurant is run by three brothers and there was always one of them there, which was important for me. “It was a great experience, in a big kitchen of 40 chefs and a totally different culture – that’s what I wanted to see something different. “I’ve taken a lot of techniques from it, the venison dish on the menu now is inspired by Can Roca” Mark was already head chef at L’Enclume when he won but says winning has helped him to get his name out there into the industry. He said: “It projects you and it’s something I always wanted to do.” And for anyone thinking of entering this year, Mark’s advice is – practise! He added: “I don’t think it matters how old you are when you enter, it’s all about your experience. You need a decent background in cooking and always make sure your paper entry is spot on.”
Tom Barnes, head chef, L’Enclume Tom is the current Roux Scholar but he too had entered before, when he won last year it was his second attempt. The 26-year-old started cooking straight out of school and has ten years cooking experience. He had to create a dish using venison and Jerusalem artichokes for his paper entry and he says making sure it looks professional really helps you stand out. “At that point everyone who enters is on a level playing field,” explained Tom. “You are all judged on the same ingredients so I think it’s the way you use them that makes you different – so I did artichoke four ways for example.” Preparing to cook the dish for the regional meant Tom didn’t have a day off for six weeks. He said: “Even before I knew I had got through I was still practising because you only get told three weeks before. It’s important to get your time down because you have to get a dessert in their as well. “I’d learnt from the year before how intense it was and I had a feel for what was coming but there’s no other advantage to doing it previously – it’s always different dishes you are tested on.” In the regionals Tom had to impress Alain Roux, Sat Bains and Steve Love. He said: “Knowing Sat Bains and Steve Love were winners was nerve wracking – but I would have been nervous in front of any judge because I wanted to get it right.”
He added: “When I practised at work I used an induction stove but once I got there it was all gas. So I felt the sauce wasn’t as good as I know it could have been.” In the final Tom was asked to prepare chartreuse of quail, with veal sweetbreads and choux buns stuffed with creamed spinach and a grape sauce. “For the final there isn’t much you can do apart from read books,” said Tom. “It’s horrible waiting for the final dish, you are always second guessing yourself and it pushes you out of your comfort zone.” Tom has only recently returned from his stage at Hof Van Cleve, somewhere he has always wanted to go. He said: “I wanted to go there for years, I saw it on the 50 Best List when I first started cooking. It’s a classical based kitchen but the presentation is very modern.” He added: “I got to work on every section so I was a lot more involved
