The contest is mainly based around the presentation of food; the contestants cook a dish and when chilled, they garnish and glaze the food with aspic.
Most of the entries are not tasted (which I don't really agree with) and the decision on a winner is based mainly on appearance and creativity of ingredients.To boost this years event several new categories were included; petit fours, canapes and afternoon tea cakes, as well as the table setting contest. Also included was the live cook-off event held the previous week at Cambridge Regional College (of which I wrote about previously).
Pembroke, being the college with the best food in Cambridge, entered 18 dishes, with Becky Warren competing in the table setting contest and Sasa Williams entering the live cook-off.
Nine of our eleven chefs were involved this year and each was awarded a bottle of Champagne (from me) for their efforts.
Nick Rose- Head Chef
Strawberries and Chocolate by Nick Rose
Chocolate terrine, chocolate biscuit, chocolate torte with strawberry cream
Citrus Cured Salmon by Nick Rose
Fresh salmon cured with citrus zest and salt and then confited in olive oil.
Served with orange segments, pea shoot coulis and beluga caviar
Ioana Cozma- Sous Chef
Loin of Tuna by Ioana Cozma
Fresh tuna, pearl barley risotto, cannelloni of capsicum,
red pepper filled with fennel mousse and balsamic reduction
Selection of Risotto by Ioana Cozma
beetroot risotto, Parmesan and Black Truffle Risotto, Broad Bean Risotto,
Vanilla and Saffron Risotto, White and Green Asparagus Risotto
Shane Miller- Chef de Partie
Poached Pear by Shane Miller
Poached pear in red wine, cherry clafoutis and white chocolate mousse
Selection of Tea Cakes by Shane Miller
Traditional fruit cake, special fruit cake and fruit bread, scones and shortbread
Tomasz Kowal- Chef de Partie
Venison by Tomasz Kowal
Loin of Venison sous vide, blueberry mash, redcurrants and cherry tomatoes
Assiette of Seafood by Tomasz Kowal
Smoked salmon, Crab pancake, shrimp and caviar
Darina Stoyanova- Chef de Partie
Loin of Venison wrapped in Parma Ham by Darina Stoyanova
Venison cooked sous vide with winter vegetables- absolutely stunning!
Assiette of Chocolate by Darina Stoyanova
White chocolate torte, dark chocolate and pistachio torte and strawberries
Seb Little
Junior Sous Chef
Roulade of Duck by Seb Little
Breast of duck sous vide with Maxim potato, glazed cranberries and celery
Elvis 'Sasa' Williams- Chef de Partie
Selection of Lamb by Sasa Williams
Shank, loin and cutlet of Lamb
Tuna Nicoise by Sasa Williams
Loin of tuna, tomatoes, anchovies, black olives and French beans
Piotr Babiak- Trainee Chef
Lobster by Piotr Babiak
Tail and claw of lobster with orange, artichokes and petit herbs
Chocolate Mousse and Fruit by Piotr Babiak
Three layer chocolate mousse with melon and strawberries
Victoria Mayhew- Commis Chef
Creme Brulee by Victoria Mayhew
Chocolate creme brulee on a chocolate crust, Financier cake with cherries and yogurt sorbet
Becky Warren- Cafeteria Supervisor
Becky's table decorated for the University's 800th Anniversary
Our wonderful chefs were in the kitchen as early as 4am finishing off their dishes. Below are a few photos showing them walking to the Guild Hall at 7.30am; they looked confident and committed!
The chefs now face an agonising wait until the results are announced on the 26th. However, you could ease their anxiety by helping to choose the best dish from the Pembroke Chefs. Post a comment below with the name of your favourite dish and the winner, as chosen by you will receive a second bottle of Champagne and an award certificate. Voting is open until Friday 13th November.
Please vote for your favourite dish now!
Let's kick off the voting - what a stunning selection! Clearly the creativity of our chefs knows no bounds. After a good deal of consideration, my vote goes to the Selection of Lamb by Sasa Williams.
ReplyDeleteThe dish presents a tempting 'chocolate box' of colours and shapes, and I particularly like the delicate display of perfectly-presented vegetables alongside.
My vote goes to the Loin of Tuna by Ioana Cozma: the plate looks fresh, simple and uncluttered and sounds absolutely delicious!
ReplyDeleteThe poached pear by Shane Miller looks absolutely fabulous; modern, exciting, but most of all appetising!
ReplyDeleteAny chance of getting that (or a modified version of it) at formal? Pretty please?!
my vote goes to the "Assiette of Seafood" by Tomasz Kowal, I'd love to try that!
ReplyDeleteFor presentation, Nick Rose's "Strawberries and Chocolate" - what a stunning design!
ReplyDeleteFor flavour, the most appealing is Selection of Risotto by Ioana Cozma. Presentation is also good for this one but it's the combination of flavours that sound particularly wonderful. Can we have some risottos like these in hall please?!
I'm voting for the Selection of Tea Cakes by Tomasz Kowal; it may not be as fancy as some of the other dishes, but it's down to earth and the one I'd most like to try. :)
ReplyDeleteIf we're having to vote by presentation, I reckon Assiette of Chocolate by Darina Stoyanova wins, although it's a tough call...
ReplyDeleteLoin of tuna - looks delicious!
ReplyDeleteI vote for Creme Brulee by Victoria Mayhew. Looks delicious and a very well presented plate.
ReplyDeleteI vote for Loin of Venison wrapped in Parma Ham by Darina Stoyanova - it's making me absolutely starving looking at it and the presentation looks great!
ReplyDeleteThe loin of tuna looks fabulous - very well presented, simple, yet with a lovely flourish with the small green leaves and fennel. Reminds me of something I had at Arbetus. Well done.
ReplyDeletethere's a lot of brilliant stuff in there, but i keep coming back to those four risottos by ioana cozma. awesome concept; really intriguing flavours; marvelous colours; AMAZING presentation! they remind me of the sweets from a japanese tea ceremony. congratulations to all of the chefs, but this one's my choice for the winner :) .
ReplyDeleteIoana Cozma's Loin of Tuna...
ReplyDeletehmm... They all look absolutely incredible! After much deliberation, I have decided to give my vote to the Loin of Tuna by Ioana Cozma. This dish is so elegantly presented.The mixture of flavours and the overall presentation are unique
ReplyDeleteand inventive - stunning!
Well done to all the chefs their entries look amazing!
All the dishes look fantastic! I like Ioana Cozma's Risotto dish in particular, I never saw a risotto presented so beautifully. Nick Rose's desert looks also fab. So my vote goes to those two. Compliments to all the chefs!!!
ReplyDeleteI would like to eat ioana's risotto for starter, darina's venison and winter veg for main course and victoria's creme brulee for pudding.
ReplyDeleteI like the clean presentation of all of these and the colours of the starter and maincourse. I also think the variety of the risotto and pudding, and the sous vide venison show cheffy skill I can't get at home and the use of winter vegetables is an appealing seasonal touch that will also complement the meat well.
I notice all my choices dishes cooked by the female members of the kitchen, and I'm a woman- I wonder if females prefer food made by females or if the women are just better! Throwing it out there for demial/debate!
Well done to everyone in the team - I am so very proud of all that you always do, not only for this competition, but also on a daily basis, when the routine and pressure could easily make quality go down. Apart from the competition, you guys must know that your work is already a winner in Cambridge - everyone in my department keeps volunteering to eat here - your reputation is very much established!
ReplyDeleteNow, my vote... difficult choice, but if you absolutely need one name only, I would have to go with Darina's creations. But I would not say no to anyone's dishes. Well done!
The selection of lamb by Sasa and the risotto by Iona are stunning. Major points for each, although I give Iona the slight edge for her culinary decadence.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, captivating, intrinsically elegant and gastronomically intriguing, the dexterity of Williams in his arrangement and the intelligence of Cozma in her masterful use of colour fuel this competition with the mouthwatering difficulty of this choice.
-Marcos Paya