Food Competition 2006
Hare - Heats
Dean and Katy really excelled in today's competition and had come up with some great ideas, but all in all the dish that really impressed the judges was their homemade goat's cheese ravioli, which was superbly executed and well presented.
Starter:
Goats cheese ravioli with tomato and rocket broth
Stunning look and flavour and the texture of the goat's cheese was delightful, but perhaps the the overall style was bit restauranty.
Light Bite:
Black pudding Scotch egg and potato salad
A first-rate Scotch egg, although the dish didn't need the fruit and the chutney - one or the other would suffice. The potato salad was extremely well cooked but just confused the dish. Perhaps serving this dish with bread and butter would be a better option.
Main:
Bacon chop with gooseberry sauce and colcannon
Everything was well cooked but the overall look was rather bland, a portion of vegetables instead of the tomatoes would have made this course more complete.
Pudding:
Baked plums with vanilla ice cream
All round a decent flavoursome pudding although possibly under priced.
Prepared by:
Dean Vaughan, Katy Pye
The Challenge
Every pub must enter a starter, light bite, main course and pudding. The dishes need to be prepared, cooked and put together in the morning before judging at lunchtime.
In the first round, three or four pubs each day go up against each other. The winner overall on each day goes through to the final, which is held two weeks later.
Pub managers and senior chefs are encouraged to come along for the judging and to lend support at the tastings and see what their crews have done, but they can't make any alterations or comment until after the judging - or heckle the other pub teams.
The Criteria
Each dish will be judged under the following criteria; the written description of the dish; the style of the dish; presentation; taste and balance; value for money for the customer; gross profit to the pub; kitchen efficiency; likelihood of consistent reproduction; ease of service to the table.
Prizes
The winning team will enjoy the glory, the admiration and undoubtedly the accusations of bias and double-dealing from all their peers. They will also receive a trophy and probably a case or two of something quaffable to share amongst the team.