Matt Jaynes from Lexington wins Elior Street Food Challenge at Hospitality Show 2015

Matt Jaynes from Lexington Catering has won the Elior Street Food Challenge at this year's Hospitality Show in Birmingham's NEC.

 

He prepared a winning dish of Goan fish curry with line-caught cod, pan-fried sea bass and broccoli with brown rice, and a mango, sweet potato and toasted coconut flatbread, and won the prize of £100-worth of high street vouchers.

 

The 45-minute contest was open to all chefs working within the contract catering sector, and asked competitors to create a lunchtime dish that could work well as a street food option.

 

Judges looked for practicality, healthy nutrition, authenticity and packaging suitable for street food eating. Food costs could not exceed £2.50 per portion.

 

Competitors were asked to provide all their own ingredients, all of which needed to be listed as part of their application.

 

Other winners included Peter Denhart from Lexington who also picked up a silver medal, and Antony Lones from WilsonJones, who won bronze. Merit certificates were awarded to Nathan Reece from Servest Catering, Emmanuel Mabika from the Compass Culinary Team and Dan Green from Elior UK.

 

The judging panel included lead judge and executive chef at Moran Hotels Steve Scuffell; Stuart Harmer, executive chef of ISS Facility Service Healthcare, Education and Defence; Gareth Billington, executive head chef of Everton FC; Frank Coughlan, executive chef at BaxterStorey; Jim Eaves, head chef at Banbury House hotel; Graham Crump, group executive chef at the University of Warwick; and David Mulcahy, vice-president of the Craft Guild of Chefs and Sodexo craft and food development director.

 

Other dishes included Vietnamese-style stuffed squid with pork, spring onions and nam pla; pork and chorizo with rice, beans, chimichurri and cassava tostada; sea bass ceviche with grilled flatbread, a garlic aioli with cumin and roasted pepper and chilli sauce; plus a ramen noodle burger with lemongrass, lime, roasted butternut squash, broccoli and spinach and a soy sauce dressing.

 

Street food has been a popular topic as its growing appeal has begun to trickle into restaurant and caterer menus across the country due to its portability and international influences.

 

The Hospitality Show is taking place from 19-21 January at Birmingham's NEC. It features hundreds of product and caterer stands, plus a series of cooking competitions judged by a host of well-known industry chefs.

 

Lexington has done well in other Hospitality Show competitions so far, including winning joint best-in-class silver medal (along with the Compass Culinary Team) for its own Superfood Challenge on Monday 19 January.

 

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