Master pieces
Marcus Wareing masterclass Pork belly was the order of the day as Marcus Wareing, 2003 Catey Chef Award winner, took to the stage to host the conference's afternoon masterclass. Wareing, chef-proprietor of London restaurants P‚trus and the Savoy Grill, and ably assisted by P‚trus sous chef Paul Ainsworth, demonstrated the formidable attention to detail and skill that has earned his two restaurants Michelin stars.
Wareing's way with belly of pork was, of course, at the opposite end of the culinary spectrum to that demonstrated earlier in the day by Peter Gordon and Anna Hansen. Firmly rooted in the 21st century's take on classical French cuisine, he chose to use slightly smoked Wiltshire pork in his dish of boiled bacon served with a game tourte and some caramelised endive with a Banyuls reduction.
As the belly is simmered for two hours with a white mirepoix, before being cooled and pressed, then squared off, Wareing resorted to the well-known here's-one-I-prepared-earlier trick. Normally, at P‚trus, he cooks the pork up well in advance, portions and vacuum-packs it so that it's a simple matter of reheating the meat immediately before service. "For me, the skill of cookery is what you do before service," Wareing said.
In addition to the belly pork dish, Wareing showed delegates how he cooks and puts together another P‚trus offering - pork cheeks served on asparagus spears, with red onion tarte tatin and a compote of Cox's apple topped by a small circle of saut‚d foie gras. At the restaurant, the dish would be accompanied by saut‚d langoustines skewered on a spear of thyme.
As he demonstrated the dish, he chatted about the Savoy Grill and the challenge of operating a larger restaurant after the smaller dining rooms he had grown used to in his career. The trick, he revealed, was to remove the risk element from cooking as far as possible (hence the use of methods like sous-vide) and to build menus around the skills of the team. "Everyone knows, you're only as good as your team."
Kitchen Tours
A chance to see daylight came the delegates' way at the end of the conference when they headed off to some of London's leading kitchens for a peek behind the pass.
The kitchens - Theodore Kyriakou's Real Greek in Hoxton, Adam Gray's at Rhodes Twenty Four, Josh Emett's at the Savoy Grill, Alan Pickett's at Aurora at the Great Eastern hotel, Mark Gregory's at Axis - were all within 10 minutes' walk or taxi ride from the conference venue of the Brewery in London's Barbican area.
Those on the Real Greek jaunt who hadn't been to Hoxton for a while (the restaurant is in Hoxton Market, just north of the City) were in for a surprise. When Kyriakou launched his restaurant five years ago, the area was still a slightly dodgy part of London.
Since then it has scrubbed up well and attracted competitors. But Kyriakou spearheaded the invasion, establishing an enviable reputation for great food made with carefully sourced produce, sensibly priced in stylish (but not over-designed) surroundings.
Providores masterclass A fusion of flavours and ingredients unfamiliar to many chefs in the audience had delegates flocking to quiz chefs Peter Gordon and Anna Hansen after finishing their masterclass. The pair, who are joint chef-proprietors of London's Providores restaurant and Tapa Room and the current holders of the Catey Newcomer of the Year title, turned out Appleton pork cheeks braised with black cardamom and star anise served on Israeli couscous with hijiki salad accompanied by a quandong relish; and a dish of slow-roast pork belly on cumin-roasted parsnip and plantain mash with tomatillo chilli jam. Both dishes are typical of those offered at their Marylebone restaurant.
Gordon and Hansen passed samples of some of the ingredients around their audience of 240 chefs for a closer inspection - black vinegar and pomegranate molasses were particularly closely inspected - and Gordon took the opportunity to present a "fusion defence committee".
"How many people use potatoes?" he asked, adding, "then you're fusion chefs - because the potato is originally from Peru." His point was that most cuisines have elements of fusion, with some ingredients being absorbed into national cuisines 400, 500 or even 1,000 years ago.
Hansen, meanwhile, explained how the Providores way of cooking involved using more ingredients - such as miso sauce or black cardamom - for seasoning than just salt, which falls nicely in line with the Government's move to reduce the nation's salt intake.
The duo also chatted about their involvement in the 160-seat Public restaurant in New York's Nolita district - launched by American architect Adam Farmerie and his brother Brad, who worked at both the Sugar Club and the Providores - at which they're retained as consultant chefs. Despite New Yorkers' preopening resistance to fusion food, a starter of grilled kangaroo on a coriander falafel has apparently been hailed as the most interesting dish in the city.
Handling suppliers
How do you nurture the best relationship with your suppliers? Telephone them at an agreed time every day, or leave a slurred order on the answerphone at 2am? Maintain a professional distance at which to conduct business or accept regular free lunches and the odd brown envelope stuffed with cash?
These questions and others were answered at this year's conference by a panel lined up to debate how to get the best out of your suppliers. The panel consisted of restaurant chefs Andrew Turner, executive chef at restaurant 1880 at the Bentley hotel, London, and Mark Dodson, executive chef at Cliveden in Berkshire, and contract catering representatives Charles Boyd, chief executive officer of catering and events company Chester Boyd, and Rob Kirby, group executive chef at Avenance. Much of the debate focused on whether nominated suppliers were good for business.
Boyd stated the case for nominated suppliers. Bulk-buying power, he argued, meant the operations could expect permanent low prices, rather than the temporary knockdown prices used to woo independent chefs. He also stressed that nominating suppliers fostered a more reliable and trustworthy relationship between the two parties. "If you're shafting your supplier at every opportunity, believe me the supplier is shafting you," he said.
He did, however, admit that established arrangements with fixed suppliers can sometimes put quality at risk - through complacency on behalf of the supplier and the chef not being able to source alternatives elsewhere. Kirby, who helps to source supplies for more than 600 Avenance sites, said this problem could be avoided if supplier lists included alternatives. To give his chefs choice, Avenance stages regional round-table discussions so chefs can exhange opinions and advice about suppliers.
From the floor, former Le Petit Blanc chef Stuart Busby, of supplier Chefs' Connection in New Covent Garden Market, said: "Chefs don't like being dictated to. A chef doesn't have purchasing power if an accountant upstairs is telling him to buy another carrot because it's tuppence cheaper."
In response, Dodson said he "couldn't operate like that", and that he preferred to check the quality before he agreed on pricing. Turner agreed, saying: "I can speak to people on the shop floor. Because I get that choice, I have the freedom. Good produce is the key to success."
On the issue of backhanders, the panel was unanimous that those accepting free gifts from suppliers were only shooting themselves in the foot. Apart from the danger of being sacked, Boyd added: "You will be paying for it in the end, whether in the quality of the produce or in the price given."
World Market Having been told in the live debate just before - on how to get the best out of your suppliers - that suppliers were also good for gossip, it was off for afternoon tea and a chinwag with an assembled group of food and produce companies.
There wasn't any scandal, but there was something juicy from Chegworth Valley. The fruit juice company grows all its own fruit on a farm in Kent and offers apple, pear, apple and rhubarb, as well as other juice varieties.
Infused oils from Merchant Gourmet were the next treat. Basil oil infused with Ligurian basil for three months had a very strong flavour, as did the potent and lingering white truffle oil, while a roasted pumpkinseed oil had a nutty aroma. The company also stocks spiced black rice vinegar.
Meanwhile, something naughty was found on the stall of French fruit and veg supplier M Charraire - a purple potato from Picardy. Good for decoration, perhaps.
Other titbits in the marketplace included sausages from the Franconian Sausage Company (including a hearty bratwurst and some more unusual pork, bacon and mushroom), British cheeses from smaller producers (including ash-covered goats' cheeses) from Premier Cheese, and a range of tasty Indian dishes for the food service operator from the Authentic Food Company.
Alongside the marketplace, Moët & Chandon laid on a blind tasting of Champagnes for delegates.
