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Spanish Young Chef of the Year title goes to Pierre Koffmann protege

A young protege of Pierre Koffmann has been named as the Spanish Young Chef of the Year in the 2012 competition. Ben Murphy is a 21 year old chef working under Koffmann at the Berkeley, and his prize for coming first in the competition is to spend a week in the kitchen of one of only the few restaurants in Spain which have 3 Michelin stars; Akelare.

Ben travels to Spain later in the year to complete his placement under the world renowned chef Pedro Subijana. Ben competed against 8 other finalists in the cook-off stage of this nationwide competition, which has a first round that is paper based. This is an annual competition held with the aim of encouraging chefs under the age of 25 to experiment and explore the exciting range of fresh Spanish produce and other ingredients.

Dishes which are inspired by the great Spanish cuisine are actively encouraged, and every course has to feature an ingredient from these pairs; rice or pulses, persimon or picota cherries and strawberries or raspberries.

Ben’s winning menu was a starter of Salmon with pickled lemon zest, cauliflower, chorizo and yolk; a main course of leg and breast of duck, potato cannelloni and stuffed morcilla cherries; and Tonka bean & almond soufflé, with cherimoya, raspberry and almond for dessert.

Second place was awarded to William Chilila of The Orrery restaurant in London, and third place went to Billy Stock of the Opera Tavern also in London.

William’s menu included a dressed crab starter with persimon and beetroot salad; seared marinated fillet of black Ibérico pork with pickled fennel, caramelised salsify, white onion puree and wild rice for main course; followed by orange panacotta with marinated Spanish strawberries and basil sorbet for dessert.

Billy’s menu featured Spanish style potted crab with ajo blanco, raspberry gel and Iberico de Bellota for starter; a main course of spiced Ibérico pork loin with braised Ibérico cheek and black bean stew finished with Pedro Ximenez jus; and Créme Catalan parfait torta de almond crumb and black olive caramel for dessert.

María José Sevilla, Director of Foods from Spain said: “The quality of this year’s finalists has been outstanding. It’s great to see young chefs taking inspiration of Spanish cooking and ingredients to produce such superb dishes.

“We were very impressed by Ben’s menu and knowledge of Spanish cuisine. I’m sure his placement at Akelaŕe will be both enjoyable and beneficial to his career and we wish him every success in the future”.

The judging panel was made up of Director of Foods from Spain, María José Sevilla, chef and author Peter Gordon, President of the Guild of Food Writers, Jane Suthering, and chef lecturer José Souto.

The competition was sponsored by LA Organic and Endor Gourmet Foods, who provided ingredients for the cook off. Foods from Spain expects to launch the Spanish Young Chef of the Year 2013 competition later this year.

Celebrity chef and author of the #1 best selling book Indian Superfood, Gurpareet Bains, has produced a new collection of recipes entitled Indian Superspices. These recipes are all lab inspired and are aimed at helping sufferers of everyday ailments such as PMT, colds, insomnia and hangovers.

In his own unique way, Bains uses spices in a medicinal capacity to help in alleviating anxiety, stress, allergies and a whole host of other common ailments. They are also an aid to detoxing as well as helping to manage weight loss. Bains enjoys a vast fan base including Royalty and A list celebs. He created the ‘worlds healthiest meal’ and was names as chef of the year by the 2011 English Curry Awards.

On his journey, Gurpareet reveals the amazing secrets of a spice that has been scientifically-proven by the US FDA in the treatment of asthma, diabetes, psoriasis and viral infections, as well as inhibition of cancer cell growth and improvement of the immune system. Gurpareet proves that Indian cuisine is robust enough to absorb medicinal quantities of spices and still deliver delicious meals.

This Ebook is an extraordinary collection of over 60 recipes augmented with compelling medical research and photography. Indian Superspices is a radical shakeup of the Indian kitchen: a fascinating voyage into virgin gastronomic territory.

Release date: Thursday January 26, 2012 – OUT NOW!

Available to buy online from Amazon: here.

Lucycooks in the Lakes

Enjoy at The Lakes, a gastronomic getaway this year that will tickle the palate and give the feeling of a foodie affair and either sharpen or spice up your kitchen skills.

LucyCooks the divine cookery school in Staveley near Kendal, is ready to astound food lovers with a stay at a beautiful Lake District location combined with a break spent baking, barbecuing, basting or being buoyed by a number of other foodies experiences thrown into the mix.

The fabulous cooking course is what makes LucyCooks so renowned. The courses cover a myriad of skills, taste sensations and food themes. All the different experiences are hosted by talented tutors working in a practical and purpose–built cookery school benefitting from workstations, the finest equipment with tuition help and with areas built low for the cooking kids in the house and those that cannot stand.

A total of 24 cooks can be there to improve their skills, socialize with others that love food and indulge in their fascination for food as well as having a two-course lunch and the ultimate pleasure – plenty of time to chill out with an enchilada or relax with a roulade.

LucyCooks is offering cookery-course-plus-accommodation packages that make a tasty trip to the Lake District child’s play, thanks to a link up with the Lingmoor Guest House in Windermere – a lovingly refurbished 1854 Victorian property just two minutes from Windermere railway station.

Guests can enjoy a two-night bed and breakfast deal on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, plus a LucyCooks daytime cookery course of their choice on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, for a total cost of just £240 during Spring/Summer 2011.  This package is also available for two people at a total cost of £340.

Those wishing to make a food foray later in the year can book a November 2010 of February/March 2012 two-night bed and breakfast stay for one at The Lingmoor on any day from Tuesday to Saturday, plus a LucyCooks day course running on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, for £230.  A second option is for a two-night out-of-season B&B break for two people from Tuesday to Sunday, plus a LucyCooks daytime cookery course running on any day from Wednesday to Sunday.  This costs £330.

The only ingredient missing at LucyCooks is you, so find out more about these delicious days away by visiting www.lucycooks.co.uk to review courses and www.lingmoor-guesthouse.co.uk to look at the accommodation available.  Those then ready to make the LucyCooks leap can call 015394 32288 to boo

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Channel 4’s Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard gives amateurs and pros the chance to bake incredible recipes that give the taste buds something to remember. Eric’s recipe ideas are simple to follow and look fantastic. Beginners will appear as if they have been baking for years, while pros can experiment and show off the best of their skills. All of the award-winning baker’s recipes are unique and delicious but five of his recipes which featured on Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard really stand out from the crowd.

The Choux Parisien is a recipe that will leave pastry fans desperate for more. After buying the necessary ingredients, you will need to make the mouisseline and pastry separately. For the mouisseline, bring milk to the boil in a pan whilst combining the egg yolks, sugar and flour in a separate bowl. Whisk the two together before heating and adding the butter. Once the mixture has cooled you will be able to beat in the hazelnut paste and pipe it onto the choux pastry, the method for which can be found through the link above.

Cream Cheese Brownies are the perfect way to indulge in a treat that is worth writing home about. The extravagant ingredients make for a perfect dessert; just try not to think about how many miles you will need to walk afterwards. The brownie base is made simply by melting chocolate and butter into a mixture to which the sugar, vanilla, salt, eggs, flour and coffee are added.

This brownie base mixture can be spooned into a lined tin and topped with the marble topping made from cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and egg. The smell of these brownies in the oven will bring in all of your neighbours.

Eric’s Chocolate Honeycomb Squares make the perfect snack for your lunch box, although that depends on whether they last that long. A chocoholic’s heaven, these sweet tooth satisfactions are Eric Lanlard’s own version of the tiffin and are packed with chocolate honeycomb balls, digestive biscuits, golden syrup, milk chocolate and butter. Simply melting the ingredients together is sufficient to make the mixture; the difficult part is waiting for it to set in the fridge before you can eat it!

Now and again it’s nice to have a change from your staple banana cake recipes and sample leftover fruit in a different dessert. The Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard Eton Mess recipe does just this. The ultimate in British puddings, the Eton Mess combines raspberries with sugar, mascarpone cheese and cream to make an intensely rich dessert that is well balanced with the sharpness of the fruit. For a Lanlard twist, add some popping candy to give guests a fun surprise at the bottom of their bowl.

Finally, Eric Lanlard’s Rhubarb Fool with Rhubarb Caviar can make an ordinary dessert look Michelin star worthy. Served in shot glasses, this pudding looks glamorous, elegant and intricate but is actually quite easy to make. By stewing the rhubarb with sugar and water you can make a compote that should be strained and set aside. Whisking cream with vanilla powder and vanilla seeds will make a soft peaked mixture that can be spooned on top of the stewed rhubarb in the glass. Now for the clever bit; the strained liquid from the rhubarb should be reheated with agar flakes and rhubarb flavouring.

This liquid can then be used to fill a syringe and dropped into a jar of cooled sunflower oil. As the liquid hits the oil it will form small rhubarb ‘pearls’. These pearls can then be removed and used to decorate the rhubarb fool that has been assembled within the shot glass.

In the herculean task of trying to convert, a nation of 300 million Americans, to healthy eating, and he admittedly fell short of his goal. So it is not any surprise that Jamie Oliver’s upcoming project is a bit more modest and falls safely within the comfort zone of his culinary lifestyle; a celebration of Britain’s traditional pub food.

The chef’s announcement of his next undertaking is a Channel 4 six part series and a book to accompany. This came just a couple of weeks following the mid year cancelling of his series in the US following poor ratings. What was even more humiliating was re-runs of Strictly Come Dancing has replaced his show on US TV.

Now after dressing like a vegetable and trying to convince a group of skeptical US youngsters that there is life and dietary options after pizza Oliver has opted to return to where he came from and refocus on Jamie’s Great Britain and use recipes such as fish and chips and kidney pudding as well as other dishes both domestic and foreign that Britons love to eat.

His return home comes following a series of foreign based TV shows that included his efforts in the US and around Europe for the Jamie Does…series. He said it took him a while, some twenty years, but he says maybe you need to look for a long time at other countries to see just how really good yours is.

The 35 year old chef cares immensely about his UK and US school meal projects and his setbacks are lessened by his incredible domestic popularity and his personal fortune that is estimated to be in excess of £100m. He hopes that returning to his roots will inspire him to one day find the way to change the way a nation thinks.

My Secret Kitchen’s Phil Moran says they like to push the tastebud boundaries. Trying familiar foods with a bit of a twist is what they believe people will do in 2011.

Three new products have been launched by My Secret Kitchen to test their theory.

Lemon and Bergamot Shortbread mix – Having your afternoon tea all in one as this mixes bergamot the flavour found in Earl Grey with lemon. The shortbread is great by itself but with a touch of imagination there are many other uses say chief creator, Clare Moran. It could be used as a base for lemon meringue cheesecake of a crumble topping for white peaches or poached pears. For a subtle twist you can add orange zest, basil or rosemary.

Artichoke Pesto – The familiar pesto with a Tuscan hills twist by adding the flavours of garlic, thyme, lemon and the subtle flavour of artichokes. Top bruschetta or crostini with this great spread or mix the pesto with warm pasta or even chilled for a tasty barbecue pasta salad. For a touch of elegance a spoonful of the pesto to accompany pan-fried chicken breast with white wine, cream and asparagus tips.
Chocaberry Cheese Ball Mix combines with cream cheese to create tastefully tart mouthfuls of creamy white chocolate and raspberry indulgence. This inspires the possibility of outrageously impressive dessert cheese balls or, when also mixed with cream, an incredibly quick-and-easy cheesecake filling. Alternatively, just sandwich it between a couple of biscuits and enjoy a slice of fantasy food heaven.

My Secret Kitchen is the UK’s first food and drink tasting company. The team has spent many years travelling the world and presenting food trends to major food manufactures. They now spend their time launching unusual and trend setting foods through home tasting events throughout the UK. Think the Tupperware party concept… but with food

Jamie Oliver the champion of healthy eating has been working on getting people across Britain to cook in their own kitchens with local produce.  However, it seems that now he is in the centre of storm as news cropped up that his Italian restaurant in George Square over in Glasgow is one just one out of 15 in his chains that has been using sauces that are prepared 400 miles away by an industrial centre.

Instead of cooking from scratch, Jamie’s own chefs reheat the sauces, place them on dishes, and then add a few garnishes to dress the meal up.  The sauces come from Fabulous Feasts Ltd which is the catering firm owned by Oliver that is located in Oxfordshire.

A spokesman for the celebrity chef stated that the kitchen is only used for a handful of base ingredients such as the base that the sauces are placed on and that those bases are made out of fresh ingredients.  The spokesman added that this is done so that the menu is consistent from restaurant to restaurant and is something that is very common across any restaurants that are part of large chains to provide the same tastes.

When the Glasgow eatery first opened a few of its menu items also came from locations quite a distance away such as its scallops but since it was opened by Jamie the restaurant now serves only Scottish scallops.

Despite the c controversy, at least Jamie is not the first chef to face accusations of not using fresh food items as Gordon Ramsay was in the centre of the media circuit last year when it was found that he served some pre-made meals out of his restaurants from GR Logistics, which is the catering firm associated with Gordon Ramsay Holdings.