Cucina school chefs win triple gold at Salon Culinaire

Executive head chef Ian Morgan, Daniel Boniface, Cucina Group chef for Cambridge and Andrew Wilcock, head chef at Esher High School in Surrey, won golds at the Salon Culinaire. All three chefs are members the Craft Guild of Chefs and of the Cucina team, which serves fresh food to more than 25,000 pupils at 30 contracts up and down the country. Morgan and Boniface cooked roast loin of venison with bean cassoulet, fondant potato, with cabbage dumpling and preserved lemon jus with a bay leaf foam followed by a dessert of Esher High School rhubarb with ginger and white chocolate custard. The rhubarb is grown by pupils at Esher High School, where Wilcock is based. This menu gained Best in Show and gold medals in the team event. Wilcock won a gold in the Craft Guild of Chefs culinary team. Morgan also won a silver and Best in Show (no golds were awarded) in the "Chef" at Salon for his dish of roasted Cambridgeshire wood pigeon, wild mushroom risotto, jus du vieux lié sponsored by Nestlé Professional. Steve Quinn, managing director of Cucina, said: "I am over the moon for Ian, Andy and Dan and what they have achieved here. Their performances were outstanding against some great chefs from around the world and shows that at Cucina we can mix it with the best of them. Providing great food in schools is our day job so it's nice to be recognised in this blue ribbon event for our standards too."