SODEXO PRESTIGE CELEBRATES THE BRITISH SANDWICH

The competition, launched this year to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the sandwich, was split into three regions, with winners in London, England and Wales and Scotland. A total of 60 sandwich lovers from Sodexo Prestige, the specialist corporate catering, fine dining and hospitality arm of Sodexo, entered their creations. Submissions came from staff across the business from kitchen porters to district managers. The winner for Prestige London was a sandwich called 'The East End Wide Boy', which was created by Ben Tamlyn, head chef at Henderson Global Investors. His sandwich consisted of mustard and dill Boules bread, pastrami, Swiss cheese, pickled carrot and Russian dressing. Tamlyn's winning sandwich will be sold at all London outlets catered for by Sodexo Prestige. The England and Wales region was won by Debbie Cundy, general manager from HSBC Tankersley, with her entry of a 'Peppery Joe' sandwich. Her filling consisted of smoked mackerel fillet on bloomer bread with watercress, rocket and crispy streaky bacon. Cundy will see her sandwich being rolled out across the HSBC regional businesses. Kelly Gordon, head chef at Blair Castle in Pitlochry, Perthshire, came out on top in the Scotland regional competition with a new dish called mock crab salad – a creamy egg sandwich using free range eggs on farmhouse grain bread. Gordon decided to give the dish a twist by adding spring onions and salad cream. Her winning creation will be sold at more than 100 locations throughout Scotland where Sodexo provides catering. The judging panel was made up of foodies, including executive chefs from Sodexo Prestige. The London judges were joined by Paul Rhodes, the artisan baker from Greenwich, who supplies breads and pastries to all London sites. There was a strict marking system for the sandwiches: 40% of points were awarded for flavour and taste; 20% presentation; 20% innovation; 10% composition of ingredients; and 10% adherences of competition rules. The competition was developed by the Sodexo Prestige London team headed by Mark Parfait, head of food operations, who said: "This is the first time we have run a competition such as this internally and it was great to see the response we got from each of our sites and their personnel. "The creation of each of the sandwiches that were judged showed thought and creativity and it was a hard decision to pick the winning sandwich. Each entry deserves a special mention and we look forward to many more entries next year." Malcolm Emery, principal chef for Sodexo Prestige, said: "We sow, grow, create and serve, this is not just our mantra for food but our approach to how we run all elements of Sodexo Prestige and this competition was a chance for our staff to celebrate all things foodie."