After two tense regional finals, which included a tough mystery box dessert challenge involving lime, pears and coffee, the Roux family has announced the six chefs who will compete for the title of Roux Scholar 2014.
Tom Barnes, L’Enclume Restaurant, Cumbria
Scott Dineen, Goldman Sachs (Baxterstorey), London
Sabrina Gidda, AIG Group London (Restaurant Associates), London
Richard Pascoe, Oulton Hall, (De Vere Hotels) West Yorkshire
David Salt, BNY Mellon (Restaurant Associates), London
David White, Barclays Wealth (ISS), London
The two regional finals took place on Thursday 20th March 2014 at University of West London and University College Birmingham, judged by –
In London: Michel Roux Jr, Angela Hartnett, James Martin and Gary Rhodes.
In Birmingham: Alain Roux, Sat Bains (Roux Scholar 1999) and Steve Love (Roux Scholar 1997).
The challenge
This year’s challenge was to create a recipe to serve four people using one saddle of venison ‘fallow buck’ weighing anywhere between 1.4 kg – 1.6 kg untrimmed, to be served plated and accompanied by two garnishes. One garnish had to include Jerusalem artichoke and the other, a garnish of their choice, served with a sauce to accompany the dish.
Contestants had 2½ hrs to cook their dish as originally submitted along with a dessert from a list of mystery ingredients given to them on the day.
The 2014 mystery box dessert:
150g caster sugar
4 eggs
100g plain flour
200ml double cream
4 medium conference pears
2 limes
100g butter
30g roasted coffee beans “Caffe Musetti”
The brief was to prepare a dessert for four people using the ingredients supplied with the addition of water. One ingredient could be omitted but at least 50% of the remaining ingredients had to be used.
Michel Roux Jr commented
“We had another brilliant cook-off, the chefs all cooked pretty much what we were expecting from the written recipes but some worked better than others. Overall the finalists showed great imagination and demonstrated all the skills that we’re looking for in a Roux Scholar.”
Angela Hartnett said:
“We saw some great cooking of the venison today and the desserts were better than last year. The key to success is definitely ‘less is more’ – the best I tasted were the simplest.”
Regional Prizes
No one went home empty handed, each competitor received the following gifts from the supporters, plus a commemorative certificate signed by all the judges:
- £100 Russums voucher courtesy of the Savoy Educational Trust
- A Moka coffee pot plus coffee courtesy of L’Unico Caffé Musetti
- A G-77A 20cm chef’s knife with special fluted blade to mark Global’s 30th Anniversary, each in a presentation gift, courtesy of Global Knives.
- A visit to the Fairfax Meadow Factory in London where skilled butchers present a meat demonstration courtesy of Fairfax Meadow
National final – Monday 14th April 2014
The six finalists will compete in the national final, which takes place at Westminster Kingsway College, London. This time the recipe details are a complete surprise; 30 minutes before the start of the competition the finalists will be given the recipe and ingredients for a main dish, either classic or modern, and asked to prepare and present it to the judges.