Sheffield leads the way with Skills for Chefs
June 27th, 2008 CheffyThis week saw the 11th annual Skills for Chefs conference taking place, hosted by the University of Sheffield.
It drew together hundreds of people from the culinary world and for two days was once again a forum for debate, cutting edge demonstrations and an insight into the latest qualification routes into the industry.
John Williams, Executive Chef from the Ritz was the first to put the Enodis kitchen through its paces when he produced a fricassee of lobster with morels and spring onions, followed by the specialty dish ’pressed duck’. As diners, we don’t often get to see our chefs behind the scenes, so it was a privilege to watch the country’s leading chefs at work, as they demonstrated with ease, a range of dishes that would cause meltdown in the average domestic kitchen.
John’s theory is that there are only two types of cooking - ‘good cooking’ and ‘bad cooking’ and he served as an inspiration to all the young trainee chefs in the room. Watching his demonstration, the term ‘good’ seemed a bit of an understatement in his case, but it was great to listen to such unpretentious advice and ideas from a leading international chef.
Later that day, Paul Gayler from the Lanesborough Hotel in London’s Hyde Park gave an inspirational demonstration when he created a range of mouthwatering contemporary vegetarian dishes. As far as Paul is concerned, vegetarian cooking shouldn’t be about simply replacing the meat in a dish, but should be about chefs shifting the focus on what they create with their vegetables.
Although not a vegetarian himself, he embraced the vegetarian challenge many years ago and is now renowned as one of the world leaders in the creation of imaginative vegetarian food. He believes that more chefs should embrace this challenge, especially in light of modern eating trends. The latest research into eating habits show that 45% of the UK population have consciously decreased their consumption of meat in recent years and a new type of diner has also emerged, dubbed a ‘flexi veggie’ in that a vegetarian diet is followed in the main, with occasional consumption of meat or fish.
The conference wasn’t all about chefs at the peak of their careers though and it was heartening to see plenty of young chefs show off their talents, including those who have recently represented the UK in the international World Skills competition.
Most of all, it was heartening to know that Sheffield is still leading the way by bringing together internationally renowned chefs, trainers and those just starting to learn their craft, in an event to celebrate and share the talents of the UK’s chefs, caterers and restaurants.