The aim was to prepare a main course using monkfish and a dessert that was appropriate to their sector and with ingredients that came in at the typical cost of a meal. The school meal, for instance, came in at a cost of 76p a portion.
Teams of two had an hour to prepare, cook and serve dishes that were then assessed by judges from the Craft Guild of Chefs.
Andy Jones, chairman of the PS100 Group, welcomed the opportunity for the public sector chefs to showcase their skills and offer top quality meals that showed how they met challenges such as restricted budgets and nutritional requirements that dominate food preparation in the different sectors.
Those taking part included current School Chef of the Year (SCOTY) Kath Breckon (2) and former SCOTY winner Sharon Armstrong; Richard Kirton, one of the HCA Hospital Chefs of the Year, with Christine Owens, his North Tees & Hartlepool NHS Trust colleague (6); Paul Footman and Stuart Turner (5) from the University of Birmingham, the TUCO chef champions; Jamie Gibbs of HMP Bullington and Tahar Makhtari (4) of HMP Wandsworth representing the prison service; Tony Green and Martin McKee (1) representing the National Association of Care Catering (NACC); Cpt Shaun Collins-Lindsay (3) and Cpl Liam Grimes from the Ministry of Defence; and Premier Foods development chef Preston Walker who prepared meals suitable for people with dysphagia.
At the show’s Briefing Seminar stage representatives of key public sector catering associations participated in a discussion presented by Andy Jones, chair of the PS100 Group of public sector caterers.
Taking on the topic ‘Can our industry meet the nutritional needs of the nation?’, Roger Kellow for the NACC, Sally Shadrack, chair of school meals organisation LACA; Matt White, chair of TUCO (The University Caterers Organisation); and Phil Shelley, chair of the HCA (Hospital Caterers Association) explored the issues of malnutrition, obesity, training and food standards as they apply to their market sectors.
