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A view to a Skill(Caterer and Hotelkeeper Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) A host of events aimed to inspire creativity and share culinary knowledge is expected to draw in hordes of visitors to the Skillery at Hotelympia. Run by the Craft Guild of Chefs, it is the second time that the Skillery has been a key element of the exhibition, which will run from 19 to 23 February at London's ExCel centre. "There will be lots to attract the attention of all chefs and keen foodies who will be visiting the show," says David Mulcahy, vice-president of the Craft Guild and executive chef with Compass. "We'll be running a series of skills demonstrations from specialist chefs as well as inspirational and interactive sessions from some of the industry's icons." The Skillery will also provide an opportunity to showcase some of he brightest young talents that are coming through the ranks of the industry, with winners of Craft Guild competitions such as the Graduate Awards, Future Chef and New Zealand-UK Link taking to the stage. Westminster Kingsway College will also be re-creating their winning menu from the 2005 Nestl Toque d'Or finals. Displays of technical skills in the Skillery's state-of-the art kitchen will include butchery from Nigel Fredericks Catering Butchers, fishmongery from Steve Pini of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers, modern pastry techniques from Matt Owens of Circadia, modern sugar craft techniques from Javier Mercado of Westminster Kingsway College, and chocolate work from the pastry team at Great Fosters hotel in Egham, Surrey. One chef aiming to inspire visitors to try something new will be Simon Young, executive chef at London's Jumeirah Carlton Tower hotel, with his demonstration of modern British banqueting food using British cheese. "The past 10 years have seen a massive revival in the production of small British farmhouse cheeses that can often be on a par with the great French cheeses," says Young. "We use a lot of British cheeses at the hotel, particularly in the Rib Room, which serves predominately British food. Our staple four cheeses are Mull of Kintyre Cheddar, Somerset Brie, Celtic Promise and Colston Bassett Stilton. We also sell a lot of British cheeses in room service." For his Skillery demonstration, Young, assisted by his executive sous chef Iann Penn, will cook a double-baked Sussex goats' cheese souffl with truffled leek, followed by a warm terrine of potato, Cornish Yarg, Parma ham and olives with a sauce vierge. Also providing some new ideas for banqueting will be Rob Kirby, chef-director of City-based food service operator Lexington Catering, with his session on "Simple Fab 'n' Funky Nosh". "I shall be cooking up several starters, main courses and desserts that can be simply produced in high volumes where minimal time is allowed for service," he says. "There will also be plenty of top tips on planning ahead for big parties, and menu ideas." An insight into the origins of bistro cookery will be provided by Chris Basten, of Great Fosters hotel, and Michael Godfrey, of Eton College, with the two chefs cooking a modern version of bistro dishes. They will be serving up seared sea bass with lemon risotto and parsley dressing, braised neck of lamb with white bean casserole and a souffl of bread and butter pudding. Meanwhile, Derek Quelch from the Goring hotel, London, will prepare a selection of "best of British" dishes including a pear and Cashel Blue cheese salad, poached fillets of Dover sole with Rossmore oysters, braised devilled lambs' kidneys with black and white pudding, and sherry trifle. And National Chef of the Year winner in 2004, Steve Love, of the College Arms in Stratford-upon-Avon, will cook two of his award-winning dishes: lobster ravioli with langoustines, creamed leeks and a celery broth, followed by breast and ballottine of squab pigeon with braised lentils and creamed garlic spinach. To experience a culinary flavour of New Zealand, exhibition visitors should call in to the Skillery when Peter Gordon, chef-proprietor of the Providores, London, takes to the stage. Gordon will be supported by Sophie Wright, a student at Westminster Kingsway College, who will soon be embarking on a six-week working trip to New Zealand. Wright won the trip of a lifetime in the New Zealand-UK Link competition, organised by the Craft Guild of Chefs, having cooked a three-course meal incorporating red snapper, venison and manuka honey. She will work in five of the country's leading restaurants and resorts as well as enjoy a one-week holiday. "I hope to be able to provide an insight into the slightly more relaxed, although very professional, approach to cooking in New Zealand," says Gordon. "I will be cooking three dishes and using some typical ingredients from New Zealand such as lamb, venison, wasabi, avocado oil, kawakawa [a medicinal herb increasingly being used in cookery] and manuka honey." Meanwhile, Cyrus Todiwala, chef-proprietor of Caf Spice Namaste, London, will take visitors on a culinary tour of the Indian subcontinent, using British produce. Supported by his wife, Pervin, Todiwala will wait until he arrives at the Skillery to decide what he will be cooking. "I'll take along my spices and see how I am inspired by the ingredients waiting for me when I get there," he says. Todiwala, who has been named best Indian chef in the UK, has always been a big supporter of British produce and farmers and particularly likes to use organic ingredients and rare-breed meats. "I always use British produce whenever I possibly can," he says. "The quality is fabulous. The only drawback is that it can sometimes be a bit expensive." Todiwala has even incorporated a Cornish blue cheese, combined with garlic and chilli, into a naan bread, which is proving very popular with his customers. One ingredient he will definitely be using at the Skillery will be potatoes from gourmet growers Carroll's Heritage Potatoes in Northumberland. "I will be using their Highland Burgundy, Ratte and Pink Fir potatoes, all of which have a wonderful flavour." The Skillery will also offer an insight into Chinese cookery, quite unique to the experience of most observers. Executive chef of Mayfair's Kai restaurant, Alex Chow, will gather together a selection of some of the word's rarest ingredients to create a couple of Oriental-inspired dishes. "Alex will probably use some abalone, wild ginseng, caviar and truffles, as well as some other less well-known ingredients," says Kai's owner, Bernard Yeoh. Chow is not unused to cooking with luxury ingredients, as a soup that he has created for the menu at Kai has been officially recognised as the world's most expensive soup by the Guinness Book of World Records. Selling at 108, the Buddha Jumps Over The Moon soup contains abalone, ginseng, a rare herb called crodicep, and gold flakes. The dish takes three days to prepare and each portion contains stock made from a whole chicken. Back in the real world, an insight into the working world of a development chef will be provided by Shaun Falvey, who for the past seven years has been developing puddings and desserts for Alveston Kitchens, part of Heinz Foodservice. "I shall be telling the audience what my job entails as well as demonstrating some ideas for serving some of our products, such as putting a passion fruit and mascarpone cream with our meringue shells and presenting our vanilla seed and cardamom crme brle," he says. While clients love to have traditional desserts on their menus, Falvey is always being asked to produce innovative new dishes. "A major part of my job is to keep an eye on trends, and one of the major trends at present is the crossover of sweet and savoury flavours in desserts," he says. "So something like an apple galette served with goats' cheese is something that might appear in the future." Falvey, who says it can take between six weeks and six months for a new product to be developed and enter the marketplace, spent the earlier part of his career in restaurant and hotel kitchens, such as those at Rules and L'Escargot in London and the Metropole hotel at the NEC, Birmingham. Among the culinary stars of tomorrow who will be demonstrating their skills is the team from Westminster Kingsway College who won the 2005 Nestl Toque d'Or competition earlier this year. For the final they had to devise a restaurant concept for the future and cook a three-course meal for their chosen establishment. They called their restaurant 2012 and set it in London's Docklands. While the design of the restaurant was intended to incorporate a lot of recyclable materials, its ambience aimed to capture the spirit of the Olympics with the menu offering the best of British produce and cooking styles. Overseen by chef-lecturer Bob Brown, the kitchen team of Tom Egerton, Christopher Terry, Ben Ford and Joe Grollman - supported by Daniel Welstead and Esher Williams front-of-house - will re-create their winning menu at the Skillery, ensuring that all visitors to their session will have a tiny taste of their dishes. They will prepare a nettle soup with a smoked haddock and eel fritter, followed by Welsh lamb with lentils and parsley, with a dessert of white chocolate and orange ice-cream, prune and coffee pudding with butterscotch sauce to finish. All four chef members of the team are now working in the industry, having successfully completed their Professional Chef Diploma. Other demonstrations at the Skillery will include a selection of fantastic fish dishes from Pascal Proyart of One-O-One restaurant, London; gourmet healthy eating from former private chef to Claudia Schiffer, Sophie Michell; and Prue Leith mentoring young chefs from the Hoxton Apprentice restaurant project. The Skillery will be open from 10am to 4pm each day in the Equipment Hall of ExCel, with each demonstration lasting about 45 minutes. www.hotelympia.com |