Autumn 2011: Post graduates

The 2010 graduate award winners share their memories and career highs of an exciting year, and underscore why it really is worth taking part in these exams.

One year on and life has radically changed for the young chefs who hit that all important 85% pass mark in the 2010 Graduate Award exams – Emily Webb, Jordan Bailey, Chris Kenny and Jack Allibone.

Twenty two year old Allibone, the highest achiever with an 87% score in the exams, is a testament to the old adage that hard work really pays off. For him it’s been a whirlwind 12 months in which he has had many culinary experiences.

“Success at the Graduate Awards in 2010 was a fantastic personal accomplishment,” says Allibone. “I’d reached the final exam in 2009 and I wanted to prove I had the skills and the knowledge to make the grade.”

At the time of the awards he was a commis chef at the House of Commons while studying at Westminster Kingsway College once a week – following in the footsteps of his parents who both work in the food industry and his grandparents who used to run pubs.

His advice for anyone thinking about entering the Graduate Awards is practice and more practice. “Don’t try and be too elaborate in the exams and take your time.

“The exams gave me the chance to put the techniques I learnt at college and at work to that next level. I had to practise butchery, fishmongery and pastry skills and in some cases I was learning from scratch. The exams take you out of your comfort zone and when you’re presented with that mystery basket you really have to think on your feet.”

Bailey, who works alongside head chef Simon Hulstone at the Elephant Restaurant in Torquay, says the exams gave him more confidence in the kitchen and he also earned respect from other chefs in and outside of work.

“The awards have opened my eyes to the competition side of cooking and given me determination and confidence,” he says. “The achievement helped me prepare for my role as commis chef in the Bocuse d’Or by getting me used to the competition environment. It also helped me to increase my work rate and stick to my time plans.”

The prizes inspired these young chefs to go on to greater things. One of them was an invitation from Chris Galvin to lunch at Galvin La Chapelle run by his brother Jeff. That meal turned into the opportunity for a week’s stage for Allibone, which later resulted in a full time job as demi chef de partie.

He also had an exclusive study tour from McCormick Foods to the south of France to learn more about herbs and spices, while other trips that all of them went on included a visit to Villeroy & Boch’s (V&B) factory in Luxembourg and an English fishing trip courtesy of James Knight of Mayfair.

Bailey says he couldn’t believe the amount of things that were planned for them to see and do each day. “They were incredible and worth all the hard work to get there.”

Allibone and Webb were blown away by the fishing trip. “We went to the oyster farm at Colchester before taking a fishing boat out at Hastings,” says Allibone. “Cutting up fish is a real art and now in my time off work I go to James Knight to study from the master fishmonger the precision that’s needed.”

Webb adds that the fishing trip was a real eye opener. “When we went out with the fishermen on the boat the sea was a bit rough. It made me appreciate fish more knowing that someone has been out in all weathers to catch it.

“Everything was a fantastic learning curve. You learn all sorts of different things you wouldn’t do on a day to day basis.”

The V&B trip included tours of its renowned tableware factory and the Bernard Massard wine factory. Webb says it was great to see how wine and champagne are made and V&B’s Nick Green was a great host.

She is sure her invitation to compete in the Young National Chef of the Year competition came about because of the awards. Both Webb and Allibone will be competing in the live final at the Restaurant Show in October. Meanwhile Bailey is already practising for the Global Chefs Challenge in March 2012 with Hulstone. “So I will be very much concentrating on that up until then,” he says. “Afterwards I will be looking at competitions on a more national level to get stuck into.”

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