With the whisks whirring and the sauces simmering, the county’s finest chefs have been fighting over their frying pans to determine who will be named ‘Booker Chef of the Year’ and ‘Curry Chef of the Year’ in probably the world’s most prestigious culinary competition – the Carlsberg UK Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards.

The Awards, devised by Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnership (NEP), are now in their third year and are again aimed at celebrating all that is great about local produce and drink, to recognise excellence within the county’s dining venues and to reward those who work so hard within the culinary sector.

The first cook-off, and the bid to be named ‘Booker Chef of the Year’, took place in the impressive kitchens of the Silverstone circuit, and the quartet competing over the stoves were (in alphabetical order):

Hao Dang of Dang’s Vietnamese Restaurant, Northampton
Lee Gaskins of The Terrace Restaurant at Highgate House, Creaton
Scott Grimsley of The Olde Red Lion, Kislingbury
Will Mountain of The Saracen’s Head, Little Brington

In true ‘Ready Steady Cook’ style, each chef was presented with a basket of produce provided by category sponsor Booker, as well as the two key Northamptonshire ingredients of Harpole breast of lamb and strawberries from Newton, from which they had to create two mouthwatering courses.

Among the dishes they served were grilled asparagus with a tomato and coriander concasse, a crispy boiled egg and basil and raspberry vinaigrette, braised lamb ‘two-ways’ with a gateau of ratatouille and a basil and mint dressing and also a dessert of crème brûlée with berries, a mini summer pudding and a mini white wine jelly.

The judges charged with the delicious task of sampling the dishes were BBC Radio Northampton’s Laura Cook, Mike Coppock from Northampton College, Booker’s Regional Director Stuart Hyslop, Steven Saunders who is a Fellow Master Chef of Great Britain and Grant Hawthorne, Master Chef of Great Britain. Said Grant “It’s great to see the regionality of British cooking becoming more prominent on both the chef and wider public’s radar and a competition like this can only serve to enhance the reasons for visiting Northamptonshire. I think it’s a super way to support the county and celebrate not just its wonderful produce, but the people who cook it.”

For Stuart, the successful event was merely confirmation of his company’s decision to support the Awards. “As a local supplier to many chefs throughout Northamptonshire, Booker understands how important it is to reward those individuals who continue to create outstanding food. So to observe the finalists conjuring up some amazing dishes using our produce makes us very proud to be involved!”

Meanwhile the second cook-off was for the title of ‘Curry Chef of the Year’ with the four chefs, each from Northampton, being (in alphabetical order):

Ram Enus of MAHA-RAJ-A
Bodrul Islam of Saffron
Durga Sapkota of Mem Saab Ltd
Baldev Singh of Mem Saab Ltd

This spicy battle was held in the equally impressive training kitchens of the category partners, Northampton College and among the judges were their Catering Manager Richard Curtis, Ian James of sponsor British Pepper and Spice, Head of Catering at Bedford College Raj Mandal, Paul Calcott of media partners WOW Magazine, local food writer and broadcaster Vanessa Kimbell and former Northamptonshire and England cricketer Devon Malcolm.

The chefs produced a remarkable variety of dishes from chicken tikka mushakali to palak paneer, monkfish bhuna to lamb mozzarella kebab which meant that for Devon, choosing his winner was a quite a challenge! “I’ve tasted some of the world’s finest curries while on my international cricket duties so to sample such a high quality of food on my doorstep was fantastic. The standard of all four chefs was amazing and we should be really proud of the talent this county has to offer.”

Rachel Mallows from The Mallows Company is the competition’s co-ordinator. “We are delighted to continue our partnership with Northampton College and so proud to bring in the magnificent venue that is the Silverstone circuit and the UK’s number one cash and carry, Booker, this year. It’s testament to the increasing value of this competition and is further regional and national endorsement of what we’re trying to achieve locally.”

The chefs in both categories now have until 1st September to discover their fate when the winners and runners-up in all ten categories will be announced at the Awards Dinner at Holdenby House. Meanwhile, to see them in action at the cook-offs, visit the Awards’ website – www.letyourselfgrow.com/foodanddrinkawards

Finally, there’s your chance to help to decide who wins the ‘Community Pub of the Year’, ‘Restaurant of the Year’ and the ‘Pub or Bar Restaurant of the Year’ titles again by visiting the Awards’ website – www.letyourselfgrow.com/foodanddrinkawards and voting for your favourite in each category or by completing voting form which is available at each of the venues. You have until 8th August to register your vote.

Its official, after months of planning we have opened the doors to our fantastic new cookery school. A warm welcome awaited our first students who came along to attend our Artisan Bread course.

After coffee and croissants the students kicked off the day making a white batch loaf, followed by soda bread which they enjoyed over lunch. The afternoon session commenced with malt crunch loaf, swiftly followed by fruit buns enjoyed with afternoon coffee. Richard Curtis, who tutored the students said ‘the new kitchen is fantastic and will ensure that we can extend the range of course available, we have all had a great day.’

The students all left armed with lots of fresh baked bread and a dozen fruit buns!

Lighting sorted, pictures hung, and after lots of cleaning and polishing we are ready to open the doors to our first group of students!

The final batch of deliveries have arrived from Baumatic, the oven housings have been built. After a few sharp intakes of breath and lots of head scratching, it looks like its all going to fit. Only 6 days until our first course takes place!

Now that the builders have completed their great work, the equipment for the fit out has started arriving on a daily basis. First delivery from Baumatic, our fridge freezer and the chefs workstation oven. The stainless steel students work benches arrived next, quickly followed by the housing units for the ovens and the worktops from Windmill Kitchens.  Some great canvass pics organised by Adam will definitely add the final touches.

Work at the school is moving on at an amazing pace. The roof and walls are all completed, the fabulous original beams look amazing and add real character. This week a mini digger arrived and after excavating a large trench across the car park the drainage is now connected.

Now that the plaster has dried two coats of paint have been applied and the flooring is being laid. Nick Bonner, Director of the school said ‘the building work has been completed to a very high standard, we have managed to retain the character of the old building but add in the modern functionality that will make this a great teaching kitchen, and the added bonus is we are ahead of schedule.’

The first cookery class in the new school will be an Artisan Bread day, taking place on Saturday 18 June.

Thanks to the guys from T J Briggs & Sons great progress is being made – we are on schedule for our opening in  mid June.

After months of planning it is great to see everything starting to come together – we cant wait  to host our first cookery class in the new school!

With BBQ season arriving early now is a great time to learn how to make your own sausages ready for the summer ahead.

Our three hour sausage making course is taking place on Saturday 21 May. During the class you will learn how to bone a piece of pork, make your own sausage meat, skinning and how to create your own string of sausages

At the end of the class you will take home a string of sausages that you have created. What better way to impress your friends and family at your next BBQ.

The class commences at 9.30am -12.30 all your ingredients are included, cost is £35 per student, places are limited, so book your place today

On 7 May a group of enthusiastic students joined Richard Curtis for a fish masterclass.

During the day students learnt how to fillet flat and round bodied fish, gained tips on how to store and identify the freshest fish.  As a mid morning snack ceviche of seabass was served. Students then went onto to prepare and cook their own lunch poached plaice fillets in a white wine and lumpfish caviar sauce served on a bed of asparagus.

After a glass of wine and a few ‘fishy jokes’ each student  filleted a freshly caught local trout, which was taken home ready for dinner!

Sorry for the delay in updating you on our progress, but as you can see from the pics work is now well underway on our fabulous new teaching kitchen. New roof completed, new floor being constructed, all the state of the art  kitchen equipment is either on route, or being ordered. We will keep you posted on our progress.