Erik battled a closely fought competition and gained first place at the prestigious event winning himself one weeks’ working stage with top renowned Great British Chef Simon Hulstone. Simon will mentor Erik at his Michelin Starred restaurant providing him with both an unforgettable experience and envied exposure to the brasserie and fine dining restaurants at the Elephant. Alongside this, Major also presented Erik with £300 in vouchers to spend at Russums, one year's free membership to the British Culinary Federation, a Major ‘Chef of the Year’ cup that will be presented to the winners year on year and a further £200 in vouchers for the University of Nottingham where Erik studies.
“I would like to congratulate each of the finalists that took part and it was great to see the competitive spirit and passion shown on the day. There were 27 dishes in total presented to the judges. Simon’s expertise and wealth of knowledge gave the contestants a real boost and the feedback provided to the students was exceptional. I am already looking forward to next year with great anticipation as I’m sure the event will grow in popularity” comments Stephen Smith, National Account Manager of Major International.
Erik focussed his menu around a Sherwood Forest theme, encompassing a mushroom risotto starter using Major mushroom stock base served with basil oil and parmesan crisps. He followed this with Sherwoods’ Hunters chicken using Major Barbecue Mari-Base accompanied by a baked potato cake and spiral baby carrots. This was finished off with a light lemon panacotta with a fruits of the forest core using Major Fruits of the Forest Fruit Base.
Other winners of the evening included Tony Maio from Cambridge University who received the First Runner-Up award. Janet Woolacott from the University of Exeter closely followed, winning the Second Runner-Up prize and Andrew Brodie from Dundee University received the award for the Best Newcomer.
Each competitor was asked to design and submit a menu for consideration incorporating Major products, intended to be served to students in their restaurants. Nine finalists were chosen from the entries and proceeded to the final cook off on March 18 at Blackpool and Fylde College.
The judging panel looked for a combination of presentation, flavour, taste, temperature, culinary skills, portion size, overall menu balance and timings.
“The competition was structured to encourage and develop the competitors confidence in competitions enabling them to enter into others in the future. Major definitely achieved this and were really impressed with the menu selections, presentation and taste of the finished dishes. We would like to personally thank Simon for offering both the fantastic prize of mentoring the winner and for being the Chairman of Judges and also to the BCF for their kind donation” explains David Bryant, Managing Director of Major International.
For any further information, please contact the Major International Customer Service hotline on 0800 5877333 or visit [email protected]
