The Staff Canteen Live 2013 in Bournemouth got off to a star-studded start yesterday with live cooking from Michelin-starred Tom Kerridge, Paul Ainsworth, Russell Brown and Chris Staines.

Tom Kerridge of The Hand and Flowers, the UK’s only two Michelin-starred pub kicked off the day’s events by showcasing some characteristic techniques.

Tom Kerridge, The Staff Canteen Live 2013 in Bournemouth — Tom Kerridge

He used a blowtorch to cook mackerel served with warm chicken bouillon, morels, nasturtium and apple. Tom had to run off to Manchester for the Champion’s League game against Real Madrid but before he left he said: “This is one of the only live demos I’ll be doing this year and the thing you get out of it is seeing young chefs and encouraging young people in the future to start wanting to be a part of the business.”

Michelin-starred chef, Paul Ainsworth, followed with a demo of his own, cooking a barbequed red mullet starter followed by pork tenderloin cooked in a water bath and served with apples soaked in Cornish cider and scallops. Paul who runs the celebrated Paul Ainsworth at Number 6 Restaurant in Padstow said:

Paul Ainsworth, The Staff Canteen Live 2013 in Bournemouth — Paul Ainsworth

“These are the kind of shows I’m always more than happy to be part of because they’re hugely important. It’s all industry people and there’s a lot of college students and youngsters here. It’s important to give something back.”

There was also an omelette-cooking challenge between Tom Kerridge and fellow Great British Menu star, Paul Ainsworth. Tom won the challenge despite taking 20 seconds longer than Paul to cook his omelette. Clearly revelling in his victory, Tom Said: “It was a case of the hare and the tortoise.” The afternoon saw further live cooking from Chris Staines, head chef (Allium Brasserie) at the Abbey Hotel in Bath and Russell Brown, chef patron at Dorset’s only Michelin-starred restaurant, Sienna.

Chris cooked miso cured salmon with cucumber and grapefruit salad while Russell served up hand-rolled Pappardelle with roasted onions, thyme and fontina. The Staff Canteen Live was part of the larger Hotel and Catering Show taking place over 5^th and 6^th March at the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) on the seafront in Bournemouth.

Several of The Staff Canteen’s suppliers were there to support the show including Ritter Courivaud Ltd, Chef Works, Villeroy and Boch, MSK Ingredients, Charvet and Essential Cuisine. Development chef for MSK Ingredients, Vicky Endersen, said: “This kind of event brings together the perfect target audience for what we do. We aim at the high end marketplace and The Staff Canteen have brought together high end chefs with high end suppliers and they’ve done a sterling job.”

The Staff Canteen Live continues today with big name chefs Nathan Outlaw, Simon Hulstone, Matt Gillan and Hywel Jones.

>>> Read more about The Staff Canteen Live here

>>> Read more about The Staff Canteen Live 2013 here

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