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THE CHEFS [Daily Post (Liverpool, England)](Daily Post (Liverpool, England) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) THE CHEFS and their dishes - full recipes and techniques will be available on-line throughout the week. SATURDAY: Denise Baker-McClearn makes Menai Mussels with Welsh leeks and cider Former club manager Denise switched from an academic career as a university forensic psychologist researching deaths in custody to blogging about food. She was inspired to launch a supper club at her own home and was later won ITV's Britain's Best Dish for Wales. She still runs supper clubs at her home in Bethesda - with teenage daughter Rosie and son Aidan as waiting-on staff - combined with commercial and private catering contracts. SUNDAY: Dai Chef makes Welsh Toffee vodka steeped Baby Orange served in a chocolate casket, with Halen Mon salted caramel, toffee yoghurt swipe hot glazed meringue toasted almonds. Bodnant's resident chef Dai Davies, who recently joined the Bodnant team, has wowed opera superstar Luciano Pavarotti with his culinary creations. Originally from Aberystwyth, Dai has worked in some of the largest hotels in London's West End and by the age of 21 he was the youngest chef saucier at the world famous Carlton Club in St James. He was the founder of the Welsh Culinary Team and is now seen as the "Daddy Of Welsh Chefs". He was previously chef director at the Ship Inn at Red Wharf Bay on Anglesey and in 2008 was awarded an Honorary Fellowship at Glyndwr University, Wrexham. MONDAY: Sunita Katouch makes Pili pili Boga ( vegetable tempura in Swahili ) Sunita is part of an Asian catering dynasty that spreads from Nairobi's Brilliant Hotel to London's Curry Special and Madhu's restaurant, beloved of TV chef Gordon Ramsey, plus a commercial arm supplying many Asian food outlets around the UK. Sunita's first catering job was aged 11, travelling with her dad and brother to sell fast food at London markets. She moved to Llandudno with her husband Bobby to set up Jaya, a boutique five- star restaurant with rooms named after their young daughter. She uses recipes that date back across the family generations but with a modern twist. TUESDAY: Penny Roberts makes French Omelette with Aberwen cheese Bodnant's own Mary Berry, students have been learning culinary skills from Penny for more years than she's prepared to admit. She's run a bistro in Cheshire, a hotel in Waunfawr and cookery schools in England, France and Spain. Her graduates have gone on to crew yachts around the Med for famous names or simply to dish up great home- cooked food for their family. Now living back in North Wales, her classes at Bodnant range from Spanish themes through to basic kitchen skills. WEDNESDAY: Jo Beevers makes Danzy Jones Truffles The former telecoms company administrator set up Kokonoir Chocolates with her chef husband Toby after they were both made redundant. Chocolatier and pastry chef Toby, a member of of the Welsh National Culinary Team, has worked at Chester's Grosvenor Hotel plus for commercial catering companies. The pair now supply hotels and restaurants with their hand-made chocolates and desserts, created at their home at Broughton. These mouth-watering truffles are made with Danzy Jones Liqueur, produced by the Celtic Spirit Company from Llanfaethlu, Anglesey. They are perfect for Easter treats or served up as petits fours with coffee, the perfect way to end a dinner party. THURSDAY: Tony Gibson shows how to cut up a chicken to make it stretch to several meals The award-winning master butcher is in charge of the acclaimed butchery at Bodnant Welsh Food. He previously ran a family butchers in Yorkshire, where his steaks and joints have fed some of the world's top cricketers. Winner of Barclays Local Business. Awards, he garnered praise from Reggae Reggae Sauce entrepreneur Levi Roots and later worked for supermarket giants Tesco as a consultant and butchery expert, advising the UK's biggest grocers on the remodelling of their meat departments. FRIDAY: Stephen Hewitt makes Strawberry choux pastry swans The pastry chef has won 18 Gold Medal for his catering skills - plus a few for his mountain biking and surfing abilities as well. He's worked as head pastry chef in five-star hotels and restaurants around the world plus, closer to home, Llandudno's Bodysgallen hall. A member of the award-winning Welsh Culinary Team, he runs his own company from his Rhos on Sea home, creating chocolate sculptures, showpiece cakes and chilled desserts for local catering businesses. At Bodnant he runs courses including pastry and bread making. SATURDAY: Wine expert Tim Watson has picked a selection of tipples to go with the dishes cooked up by the Bodnant chefs. Now manager of Bodnant Welsh Food's newly opened wine shop, he's garnered his expertise while travelling the world's vineyards. Formerly a casting director for BBC drama series such as EastEnders and Doctors, 37-year-old Tim enjoys helping Bodnant shoppers put together the perfect cast for their evening meals. The wine store stocks a broad spectrum of wines and spirits from across the world including those with Welsh links, such as elderberry and damson wines, the award-winning Penderyn single malt whisky, and an unusual wine made in Patagonia. The Argentinian region is home to thousands of Welsh speakers, whose ancestors sailed from Wales to start a new life away from religious and cultural intolerance in the South American country. (c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |