Farnborough College of Technology takes the title at Heat 2019

Farnborough College of Technology have won the Heat 2019 competition. 

Some of the UK's most talented young chefs and front of house staff went head to head this week, cooking  award-winning standard meals for paying attendees. From the ten teams who took part, only three made it to the final to compete with the home team in Jersey. 

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The winning team were mentored by Compass Group culinary director and former military chef Rob Kennedy,  while Jersey, who won the award for outstanding service was led by Lee Smith of Samphire. Meanwhile the Middlesborough team had Michelin-starred Frances Atkins of the Yorke Arms by their side,  and Paul McKnight, executive chef at Culloden Estate, oversaw the South Eastern Regional College from Bangor in Northern Ireland.

The chefs gave up time in their own kitchens to mentor the students in the third year of the competition, in the hope to inspire some of them to take up a career in hospitality. Judging the competition were industry veterans Paul Gayler, Stephen Scuffell and Henry Brosi. 

On Tuesday, Jersey Highlands College students kicked off the competition on home turf, cooking scallop ravioli, Jersey crab and sweetcorn veloute with basil; spinach and quail egg ravioli, chanterelles, mushroom veloute and winter truffle and rhubarb, apple and ginger sponges, served with rhubarb ice cream and duck egg custard.

They were followed by Farnborough College, who prepared a kabayaki glazed scallop with spiced prawn ravioli cauliflower, coconut broth, shiso and ghoa oil; roast Hampshire breast coated in a miso honey glaze with confit thigh and stuffing atop a chicken and leek risotto with pickled baby carrots, crispy shallots, borage and a winglet jus and finally a a caramelised toffee apple tatin with deep fried cinnamon offcuts, black butter tuile, Jersey cream custard and ice cream and toasted almonds.

Yesterday, Middlesborough College made crab and salt baked agnolotti with gurnard, mussel and seaweed; haunch of venison polpetini with anchovy, cabbage and pea with pomme dauphine and new season vegetables and lemon curd with cardamon meringue, blueberry coulis and almond crumb.

Finally, South Eastern regional College of Bangor in Northern Ireland were last to take part last night, cooking not three but four courses: an amuse-bouche of beetroot taco, barbecued chicken, blood orange, charred corn and purée; Butternut, prawn and crab raviolo, samphire, seared scallop, shellfish reduction, Abernathy Dulse butter seaweed emulsion and gremolata oil; Irish Wellington of venison loin and spring onion potato bread, spiced red cabbage purée, butter poached carrot, crispy kale, yeasted barley, jus roti and for dessert, an apple panna cotta, crumble, Irish freeze dried raspberry powder, apple and tarragon jelly, spiced black butter and an apple crisp. 
 

Paul Gayler said it was incredibly hard to pick a winner this year, joking that he and his fellow judges "had to get up early this morning to determine where they'd lost points, the level was so high." 

Event director and chair for the Jersey Craft Guild of Chefs association Dave Chalk said that next year, he hopes that more colleges will be involved in the competition. 

He said: "We want to bring the colleges into Jersey and we want to bring Jersey into the colleges."