Summer 2010 - Waving the flag
The Brits were out in force in Geneva to put their full support behind our UK candidate Simon Hulstone at the prestigious Bocuse d’Or Europe challenge.
Every picture tells a story and the sight of a sea of red, white and blue at the Palexpo Centre in Geneva on June 8 said it all. Union Jacks, rattles, whistles and horns, and very loud cheers from a crowd of British chef supporters, friends and family, created an electric atmosphere for Bocuse d’Or challenger Simon Hulstone and his Team UK.
Hulstone, chef proprietor of the Michelin starred Elephant Restaurant in Torquay, who secured fourth position in this European heat, showed no nerves as he fought to win a place in the grand final in Lyon in January 2011.
Hulstone and his commis chef Jordan Bailey under the watchful eye of his mentor and coach Nick Vadis, UK executive chef with Compass, were up against 20 other countries knowing only 12 would go through to the final. Denmark’s Rasmus Kofoed came first, Norway’s Gunnar Hvarnes second and France’s Jérôme Jaegle third. But, by winning the best meat dish overall, Hulstone knew he had a good chance of being in the top five. “To be placed fourth was incredible,” he said, adding that he was “chuffed to bits” by all the support.
The official products for the competition were Swiss veal and Norwegian Sterling white halibut, and in five hours 35 minutes the chefs had to use them in two dishes that would be judged by an international jury. One change this year was that the final dishes would for the first time be presented on platters the chefs would have to choose from three models proposed by the organisers, to hammer home the message that in this contest “taste takes precedent over aesthetics”.
Hulstone’s winning meat dish consisted of rib of Swiss veal platter, black pudding wrapped in pistachio, accompanied by a sweetbread and garlic sausage, cauliflower and parmesan cutlet, braised red beetroot with goat’s cheese and truffle, Devon asparagus with peas and wild mushrooms, foie gras button and a Madeira and truffle jus. An added cachet was “a cheeky bit on the side” in the shape of braised cheeks.
The judging panel’s UK representative was Brian Turner, president of the Academy of Culinary Arts – the body responsible for the British entry. Before the results were announced he had high hopes for Hulstone saying his presentation was very good – “simple and clean; cooked perfectly with good flavour and seasoning”.
Bocuse d’Or Team UK’s support has been pledged to continue in the run up to 2011. John Retallick, who co-ordinated the visit, said: “I think the trip was exceptionally successful and I know Simon and Nick really appreciated the backing. Together with a fantastic result and tremendous effort from Simon and Jordan, the UK can certainly hold its head high.”
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