Promising “incredible chefs, inspirational ingredients and healthy competition”, it will also be home to Salon Culinaire Birmingham – “a platform for up-and-coming talent to show off their skills”.
Open to chefs of all ages and experience, entry deadline is 30 November with competitions as listed below:
- Dessert of the Year (The Association of Pastry Chefs)
- Young Chef Challenge (The British Culinary Federation)
- Tilda Young Chef of the Year
- Dolmio & Uncle Ben’s Foodservice Student Catering Challenge
- Nutella Challenge
- Sodexo Chef of the Year – grand final
- 2019 Major Series final, in association with the Craft Guild
- Open senior and junior competitions in fish, chicken, pasta and lamb
In the live theatre, eight work stations will be installed with professional kitchen equipment to cope with back-to-back hot live classes across the two days.
Organised by event chef director and Craft Guild vice president, Steve Munkley, the ‘challenging and exciting’ competitions demand skills, techniques and ingredients prominent in today’s modern-day professional kitchen.
Meanwhile the Skills Theatre – dedicated to chefs starting out – will provide a space for them to practice “essential skills that will become crucial as they progress through their career”.
Brand new to the skills theatre, expert masterclasses will take place each day co-run by Ruth Hansom - the first ever female winner of Young National Chef of the Year and winner of BBC’s ‘Million Pound Menu’ – and Leo Kattou, Simpson’s Restaurant and British Culinary Federation Chef of the Year finalist.
Showcasing static culinary creations and ‘incredible’ skill from seniors, juniors and teams alike, the Salon Display will feature a dedicated sugar-craft section with its own programme of competitions, including floral sugar-craft arrangements, showpieces, and wedding and novelty cakes.
Compass Group culinary director Nick Vadis, said: “Salon Culinaire has provided our chefs with an opportunity to demonstrate the breadth of talent and skills being developed within (the Compass Group) business.
“It’s excellent to see our chefs come away with an array of awards, and I’m always extremely proud of every chef that takes part in the competition.”
Once again sponsored by PS100, the Public Sector Culinary Showcase is open exclusively to chefs and cooks from the public sector. With just one hour to produce a main course and dessert, competitors will all be given the same ingredients that “reflect the budgets and nutritional guidelines that they work with each day.” Among those already signed up are LACA, TUCO, HCA and the NACC.
Fresh Montgomery said “the result (of the Public Sector Culinary Showcase) is a thorough look at the culinary skill and innovation currently in the public sector, and an informative session on the strict criteria chefs and cooks have to work with today”.
Lexington Catering head chef Danny Leung added: “Attending Salon Culinaire is always a rubber stamped date in the diary”.
For more information and the full programme, visit https://www.foodserviceshow.co.uk/salon-culinaire.