Food Competition 2006
Fox - Heats
All round straight forward well cooked food was produced by the Fox team: their stylish and well executed chocolate pudding was their most outstanding dish.
Starter:
Shropshire fidget pie
An impressive pie that looked and tasted great, although something was missing to make this starter a complete dish.
Light Bite:
Smoked salmon eggs Benedict
A well executed classic dish.
Main:
Braised daube of venison in red wine with beetroot
Beautifully cooked venison, but the sauce failed to round off the dish and the beans would have benefited from a knob of butter.
Pudding:
Chocolate pudding
A competent stylish looking chocolate pudding.
Prepared by:
Richard Norris, Sam Cornwall-Jones
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.