After 2 regional finals, including a tough mystery box dessert challenge, the Roux family has announced the six chefs who will compete for the title of Roux Scholar 2015:
Scott Dineen, Goldman Sachs, (BaxterStorey), London
Gavin Edney, Cliveden House, Taplow, Berkshire
Sabrina Gidda, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, (Restaurant Associates), London
Daniel Lee, JP Morgan, (Aramark), London
Richard Pascoe, The Feversham Arms Hotel, Helmsley, North Yorkshire
Ian Scaramuzza, Hibiscus Restaurant, London
The two regional finals took place on Thursday 12th March 2015 at University of West London and University College Birmingham.
Judges
In London: Michel Roux Jr, Andrew Fairlie and David Nicholls.
In Birmingham: Alain Roux, Angela Hartnett, MBE and Steve Love (Roux Scholar 1997).
Michel Roux Jr said,”The standard of cooking in London was fantastic and exceeded expectations, it was very difficult to split them. No one overcooked the bird, all were moist and almost everyone seasoned well.”
Alain Roux said, “As a result of strong performances in London, Richard was the only finalist from Birmingham. His dish was beautifully prepared, and nicely presented, de-boned with the legs, and breast etc all worked in different ways. There were not too many ingredients on the plate. The ballotine of guinea fowl looked very pretty and the whole dish was well executed. The seasoning was very good and the sauce had good flavour.”
The challenge
This year the challenge was to create a recipe to serve four people, using two whole guinea fowl (with or without giblets), weighing 1.2kg – 1.6 kg plus 200g chicken livers, trimmed; served together, plated and accompanied by a sauce and two garnishes. One garnish to include spinach leaves and the other a garnish of the chef’s choice.
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 2015 mystery box dessert
The brief was to prepare a dessert for four people using the ingredients supplied. One ingredient could be omitted but at least 50% of the following ingredients had to be used:
- 150g caster sugar
- 4 eggs
- 100g plain flour
- 100g butter
- 8 medium size candied chestnuts in syrup
- 30 cl whole milk
- 2 leaves of gelatine
- 300g fresh strawberries
Regional Prizes
No one went home empty handed; each competitor received the following gifts from the sponsors, as well as a commemorative certificate signed by all the judges:
- A visit to the Fairfax Meadow factory in London where skilled butchers present a meat demonstration.
- A G-77A 20cm chef’s knife with special fluted blade to mark Global Knives 30th Anniversary.
- A large bottle of Kikkoman Soy Sauce along with an iconic 150ml dispenser bottle and a Kikkoman branded apron.
- A Moka coffee pot and coffee, courtesy of L’Unico Caffé Musetti.
National final – Monday 30th March 2015
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.