The Staff Canteen Live 2014 continues with Michael Wignall, Richard Davies and Luke Holder

The Staff Canteen

The Staff Canteen Live 2014 continued with a second day of great cooking from Michael Wignall, Richard Davies and Luke Holder at the Hotel and Catering Show in Bournemouth.

Two-Michelin-starred Michael Wignall from The Latymer at Pennyhill Park started the day’s demos with his deconstructed take on a traditional pear crumble – Passe Crassane pear with violet, chocolate and hazelnut crumb, a dish he chose for its use of many different ingredients, all complementing each other.

After his demo Michael said: “It’s always a pleasure to work with The Staff Canteen; they're like-minded people. It’s good for the public to ask questions on a hands-on basis and actually see chefs cook dishes. And it’s a chance for me to get out of the kitchen once in a while and speak to the public.”

Richard Davies also contributed with a live demo. The executive chef at the award winning Bybrook restaurant at The Manor House Hotel & Golf Club in Wiltshire cooked a crab salad. Richard also told the crowd about his time doing 18-hour shifts under Gordon Ramsay at three-Michelin-starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, saying: “It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life but as a chef you want to push yourself to your limits.”

>>> All you need to know about Gordon Ramsay here

In the afternoon Luke Holder joined the culinary action cooking a simple but beautiful Italian dish of orecchiette, purple sprouting broccoli and botagra with homemade pasta. Luke is head chef at Limewood in the New Forest where he runs the Hartnett Holder & Co kitchen alongside Michelin-starred Angela Hartnett.

During his demo Luke spoke about the importance of going back to the simple pleasures of cooking with quality ingredients in a sharing and relaxed environment, saying: "As chefs we can spend too much time turning a carrot into a foam or a purée or a bavois, anything but just a carrot."

As on day one there was also an omelette challenge, this time between Richard Davies and Luke Holder. Luke’s time was faster, beating Richard by ten seconds but Richard won on an audience vote and walked away with the coveted rubber chicken. There was also a presentation to industry charity Hospitality Action with Michael Wignall handing over a cheque for £1,500 raised by The Staff Canteen from a 20p donation from each download of our chef + app. Senior Fundraising and Marketing Executive from Hospitality Action, Giuliana Vittiglio, said: “We’re really grateful to Mark and the whole Staff Canteen team for all their support, not only at this particular show but over the years as well.”

>>> Read more about The Staff Canteen Live 2014 here

Read more on The Staff Canteen Live here and find out when you can attend the next one!

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The Staff Canteen

The Staff Canteen

Editor 12th March 2014

The Staff Canteen Live 2014 continues with Michael Wignall, Richard Davies and Luke Holder