Building for the future

 

If we are to have a good future in food we have to bring up a new generation of cooks. Not only for the restaurant business but good home cooks too who can serve delicious and nutritious food for healthy families.

At a time when cookery is decreasingly taught in schools, or largely consists of assembling pre-bought ingredients, it is good to see the Food Festivals taking on the challenge.

Abergavenny has a Secondary Schools Challenge - won this year by King Henry VIII School, but I will concentrate on Newport Food Festival and The Celtic Cook Off as brilliant examples.

Since its inception Newport Food Festival has run Teen Chef, in association with the City's Youth Service. Youth Clubs and organisations compete in heats over a period of around three months, with young people designing, sourcing and cooking their menus.

A semi final is held in the Market Hall in Newport a couple of weeks before the actual Food Festival with the winning teams going head to head on the day of the festival.

Whether a finalist or not each competitor will have gained knowledge and skills that will serve them well in future life.

The competition is hugely supported by Hywel Jones, Michelin Starred at Lucknam Park and a Newport boy himself. Hywel mentors and judges both the semi final and final, sharing his immense knowledge of food and kindling enthusiasm amongst the competitors.

But it goes further, the winning team go to Lucknam Park for a morning in the kitchen with Hywel and his team before having lunch in the restaurant. This year Hywel is cooking the Food Festival Supper and will have one of the winners of the first Teen Chef in his brigade on the evening. As in previous years students from Coleg Gwent will also join the brigade gaining valuable experience of prepping and cooking in a restaurant environment.

Education and training are also high on the agenda in the Celtic Cook Off. Held during, but parallel to West Cork Food Week, the Cook Off is organised at the West Cork Hotel by a small group of local producers and enthusiasts. Chefs from the six Celtic Nations and Regions cook off against each other for the title.

There is, however, a big emphasis on skills and knowledge for younger cooks.

A secondary Schools Cookery Competition takes place in the Mercy Heights School and one of the competing chefs is the judge - this year it was Welsh Chef Gareth Johns from the Wynnstay in Machynlleth. Gareth reported that the standard of cooking was high and the winners thoroughly deserved their title.

On the evening of the Cook Off last year's winning chef cooks a dinner, Gary O'Hanlon Of Viewmount House won last year, and the previous years Schools champions join the winner to prep an element of the dinner.

About to enjoy my breakfast I was delighted to see Gary with the winners poring over the recipe and order of work for their contribution, an Apricot, Date and Organic Blueberry Compote to accompany the Cheese Plate. They went into the kitchen and made the dish and a little more to spare.

 

On the evening of the Cook Off the two girls started the night by giving a quick demo to the 200 or so in the audience, and passed around tasters! What a great experience for 16 year olds and what a learning experience.

During the day of the competition trainees from Catering Colleges come to the hotel and have Master Classes from the competing chefs and make canapés for the audience as well as acting as Sous Chefs during prep and on the night. Again a learning opportunity for them.

 

 

 

Similarly to Hywel Jones inviting the winners of Teen Chef to his restaurant the winner of the Celtic Cook Off invites the Schools Competition winner.

Two great initiatives to get more young people involved with food and two which have made a real difference to young lives.

 

Celtic Cook Off - foodie fever mounts

 

 

How do you showcase the produce of a region?

Well, if it is as good as that from West Cork - think Caherbeg Free Range, Ummera, Gubbeen, Woodcock Smokery, Irish Atlantic  - you almost don't have to. Great Cheeses, Meat and Charcuterie, Fish and Seafood, Vegetables and some brilliant producers and processors, and a powerful hospitality industry.

So West Cork Week is a celebration of the best produce and producers, as well as a showcase for the region.

But how do you show it off to the best?

Gather a strong selection of chefs and have them cook off against each other using only West Cork produce ( and one "joker" ingredient of their choice).

Then introduce an extra element of competition by selecting one chef from each of the Celtic Nations and Regions, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Cornwall, Brittany and the Isle of Man. The Celtic Cook off is born.

Now in its third year the competition goes from strength to strength and is back on September 11th in the West Cork Hotel Skibbereen.

On the night two sets of three chefs cook off in front of a live audience of over 200 food enthusiasts with commentary and interviews by event compere John McKenna of McKenna's Guides.

Members of the audience will have a glass of sparkling wine, and canapés made by the contestants before settling in to enjoy the evening. A ballot amongst the audience will also produce an audience panel who will have the chance to taste and comment.

Six judges, working in pairs will taste the dishes before retiring to mull over the food and announce the winner.

A wide range of interest and experience is shown by the make up of the Judging Panel which includes Veronica Steele of Milleens Cheese, Virginia Sumison of Loch Fyne Oysters, Aoife Cox editor of The Daily Spud, food writer Joe McNamee and last years winning chef Gary O'Hanlon.

As all of the chefs will be using local produce, an Indoor Market featuring the best of West Cork artisan produce and producers will be held on the evening so the dishes can be replicated at home later.

But it is so much more than a cookery competition, an added theme this year is encouraging new and trainee chefs into the hospitality business. Neil Grant of the organising committee, and West Cork Hotel, explained how this would work, "All of our Celtic Cook Off Chefs have a fantastic ethos of working with local, seasonal produce and we all are passionate about great food. We want more chefs to enter the business with that thought process to help keep up the standards and increase the pool of available, passionate, skilled cooks. So we are involving trainee and commis chefs in a Master Class during the day of the Celtic Cook Off evening.

A large group of them will work with previous competitors Martin Shannahan, Jack Stein, Gary O'Hanlon and Kevin Williams, using West Cork produce to make lunch for the producers themselves, visiting journalists and invited guests. Education has always been an element of the Celtic Cook Off and this year we are bringing it to the fore. We will start the event with the winners of last year's Taste of West Cork Schools Competition working with one of the professionals to cook their signature dish, It should be really exciting.

Neil also highlighted another direct benefit from the interaction that the competition had produced " A direct result of the Celtic Cook Off has been the growth of a virtual Celtic Food Network where we all bond, share ideas, promote good food in the Celtic Regions and keep in touch. There have been some amazing examples of this already where previous competitors have taken part in joint ventures at food festivals all over the Celtic Territories" One example of this is Ondine Restaurant in Edinburgh having a special menu during the Rugby Six Nations where West Cork produce was combined with Scottish to make brilliant dishes.


I am really excited about attending the Celtic Cook Off 2013, and hope that in future years it could become a Culinary Six Nations with each region hosting an event and promoting local food and producers.

Festival Fever

Many years ago my summers were a procession of festivals. The Isle of Wight, Weeley, Bickershawe, Plumpton and Pilton. For the younger generation of reader I should point out that Plumpton and Pilton are probably better known these days as Reading and Glastonbury.

Check out the line ups in these posters and goggle at the prices!! I'm sure that inflation since then is slightly lower than the 50,000% plus that seems to have occurred. Might be cheaper to get a payday loan.

 

These days I am unlikely to consider three days camping, even in a modern fully fitted glamping yurt, and my diet has improved since the days of the macrobiotic diet (Mung Beans done 500 ways for the uninitiated) and nicotine topped up by regular "vitamin" supplements. Dark Star is less a 30 minute Grateful Dead track and more of a lovingly crafted artisan Boudin Noir.

But the Summer and early Autumn are still Festival time for me, though -despite music being the food of love - it is the food festival that I now attend regularly.

Of course the Glastonbury of the Food world is the Abergavenny Food Festival and I can hardly wait for July  2nd when the line up is announced and the tickets go on sale.

21st and 22nd September are the key dates here and a great time is guaranteed for all.


Before that there is a new festival in South Wales.
Valleys FaCE (Food and culture event) is set for July on the Festival Park Shopping outlet in Ebbw Vale,

 

Valleys FaCE is   not -for-profit community regeneration project, organising a two day food and culture event within the Heads of the Valleys area.  It is hoped that ValleysFaCE will become a sustainable biannual event that will look to “relocate” in a different local town each year.

 

The aim is showcase existing SME’s within the local area, incorporating local artisan food, drink and craft producers.  It will also be an opportunity for local cottage industries with long term plans to create a solid customer base and possible viable future business to “test the water” with their products. Updates are available here http://www.valleysface.com/ 

 

I will be baking for a stall at the festival so come along and meet me and my breads,

 

 

August will certainly involve some festival activity though my exact itinerary has yet to be confirmed.

 

Early September means a trip back to Ireland.

 

First up it's the 30th Anniversary of Ballymaloe Cookery School, and a weekend of activity and celebration is planned. Immediately after I shall be moving from East Cork to West Cork and the town of Skibbereen.

 

 

During West Cork Food Week the town hosts the Celtic Cook Off in the West Cork Hotel. Chefs from the Celtic Regions, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Cornwall and Brittany cook off in a competition using West Cork produce.  More on this event as the line up finalises.

 

Back from Cork to Abergavenny and barely will the dust have settled on the UK's biggest food festival than it will be time for the Newport Food Festival on October 5th.

 

 

Now in its third year, it is bigger and better than ever with more stalls, great chef demos and some hands on food activities for visitors. I shall be hosting a couple of hands-on bread making sessions in the Market Hall and all participants will take home some rising dough to bake at home.

 

Again the line up is still finalising but more on the blog as it comes clear.

 

Not quite the festival season of my youth, but equally enjoyable and still a highlight of the year for me.