of conferences over the last ten years, but the buzz of this conference has always been exceptional, and I know that people talk about it for a long time afterward. A lot of my staff attended conferences, and they get a huge amount out of it, and the amount of names that Willie has managed to track over the last ten years is testament of all his hard work.
What do you think about the conference, why is it so important?
In the past, for chefs in Scotland to be involved in something like that it’s a very long and very expensive trip down to London. Everything before this conference had been centered around London, and to plan an event at this size... to organise an event that size, within Scotland is something that every Scottish chef should support.
During a live show or demo, has anything ever gone wrong?
I did a demo at a restaurant show in London 15 years ago, and they had a chap who was there pot washing, fetching and carrying. I had made a base for a pear soufflé I was doing, and left it while I prepared the next dish. When I turned around to pick up the bowl, he had thrown it in the bin! He thought it was something to be washed down the sink, so that was a demonstration that was cut very short... I ended up doing a demonstration on how to make a crème anglaise with fresh custard because that was the only ingredients I had available to me!
By Katie Pathiaki
>>> Read: The Roux Scholarship winners: where are they now? (part 1)
