Food Competition 2004
Corn Mill - Heats
The Corn Mill chefs created four excellent courses that took them straight into the final, but their overall top dish was the Gruyere and smoked bacon beignets with a red pepper and tomato salsa sauce, which had a lovely light and crispy texture, and delicious flavours.
Starter:
Gruyere and smoked bacon beignets with a red pepper and tomato salsa
Lovely balance of flavour and texture, light and crisp with a good salsa.
Light Bite:
Roast field mushroom filled with smoked Haddock rarebit
An excellent all round dish with B&P style, which possibly could be improved with slightly more Haddock.
Main:
Chicken breast with lemon, thyme and apple stuffing wrapped in Parma ham with a Calvados cream sauce
It was well presented and tasted great, but the menu description was much too long.
Pudding:
Banana and walnut steamed pudding with fresh egg custard
A perfect pub dessert.
Prepared by:
Jay Freeborn, Alyn Jones
| Heats | Final | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| Black Jug | ||
| Old Harkers Arms | ||
| Hare | ||
| Grosvenor Arms | Grosvenor Arms | |
| Pant-yr-Ochain | Pant-yr-Ochain | Pant-yr-Ochain |
| Armoury | ||
| Dysart Arms | ||
| Glasfryn | ||
| Cross Foxes | ||
| Corn Mill | Corn Mill | |
| Pen-y-Bryn |
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.