The UK team bidding for glory at the Bocuse d鈥橭r, the world鈥檚 most prestigious chef competition, staged a practice run for sponsors and supporters at 蜜桃传媒.
Adam Bennett and commis chef Josh Allen, a Culinary Arts Management student, are putting the finishing touches to their dishes in advance of the contest in Lyon, France, on January 27-28. They are using a special competition kitchen at UCB to develop the two courses 鈥� one meat, one fish 鈥� and gave a 鈥渂ehind closed doors鈥� glimpse of the dishes to invited guests at the first of a series of runs throughs.
The 24 national teams competing at the Bocuse d鈥橭r, which takes place every two years, have to use the same central ingredient 鈥� this year it is guinea fowl for the meat platter and trout for the fish course.
The chefs, from five continents, get to demonstrate their individual flair, inventiveness and technical skills in the preparation, cooking and presentation of the meat and fish and the accompanying garnishes. For the fish course, they will be presented with a mystery ingredient on the eve of the marathon cook-off.
Bennett, chef director at Michelin-starred The Cross in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, posted the UK鈥檚 best ever Bocuse d鈥橭r finish when he came fourth in 2013.
With the countdown to Lyon well underway, Bennett and Allen held a full-scale run through at UCB, sticking to the five-and-a-half-hour preparation time they will be allowed in France.
The event was attended by the UK鈥檚 Bocuse d鈥橭r team president Brian Turner and chairman John Williams (executive chef at The Ritz), UCB Governor Andreas Antona, British Culinary Federation president Peter Griffiths and Simon Bartley, President ofWorld Skills International. Other guests included representatives from Warwickshire-based butchers Aubrey Allen, who sponsor the team鈥檚 meat, Birmingham-based Heritage Silverware, which supplies the competition platter, and Manitowoc.
