League of Chefs in cook off challenge at Shepherd Neame

Chefs from the House of Lords and London's Caledonian Club took part in the final of the prestigious League of Club Chefs' annual competition at Shepherd Neame's brewery in Kent.

Paul Hodson, head chef at the Caledonian Club, claimed victory with his starter of 'Posh Ploughman's' with wholemeal bread and cherry bakewell tart dessert. Meanwhile worthy runner up Mark Thatcher, executive chef for the House of Lords, served a main of roasted rump of Kentish Salt Marsh lamb and a hot chocolate soufflé pudding.

The League of Club Chefs aims to bring cooking into the 21st century, sharing experiences and knowledge from the culinary world. Founded in 1988, the league is made up of 18 chefs from various London clubs and conducts a range of competitions among its members.

In this competition, the chefs had to create two dishes suitable for a pub menu using Shepherd Neame's 1698 Kentish ale and Grant's Morella cherry brandy, and both chefs battled it out for 90 minutes before presenting their dishes to judge and league president Don Irwin. The food was assessed according to presentation, taste, use of local seasonal produce and suitability for a working menu.

Shepherd Neame marketing manager Mark Miller said: "It was a great honour to host such high calibre chefs at the brewery and watch them create delicious dishes using Shepherd Neame's Kentish Ale. Both chefs were challenged to come up with dishes that could be used by pubs, so they might even appear on a Shepherd Neame menu."

Words: Sheila Eggleston

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