On Monday, 19th October over 200 guests attended The Master Chefs of Great Britain Annual Lunch at Prestonfield House in Edinburgh.
A superb menu was devised and prepared by a team of Scottish MCGB members.
Gary Maclean and the students of City College Glasgow who created the canapés served with Villa Sandi Prosecco.
Braehead Foods and Sam Mallalieu were in charge of the starter an Ayrshire Ham Hock, Foie-Gras and Rabbit Terrine, piccalilli dressing, warm partridge rillettes and walnut marjoram essence whilst Craig Millar prepared 44oC Shetland Salmon served cold miso caramel, pickled shallots, cucumber, puffed wild rice, passion fruit, radish, oyster and parsley sauce both were accompanied by Round Stone Bay Sauvignon Blanc. Thank you to the Scottish Salmon Producer’s Organisation for supplying the salmon.
John McMahon cooked Roast loin of roe buck, beetroot: baked, brined and raw, orange chicory, stovies and crowdie skirlie to perfection and we are grateful to Highland Game for supplying such fabulous produce. The main course was served with a Wee Angus Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot which also accompanied the Glenkinchie Single Malt washed Howgate Brie, mustard fruits, truffled heather honey, caper soda bread and crackers. The Demijohn Toffee Whisky Liqueur also went extremely well with cheese!
Garry Watson put together a fantastic Fine Apple Tart, Caramel Sauce, Vanilla Ice Cream accompanied by Belingard Monbazilliac whilst Bruce Sangster created a superb display of petit fours. And behind the scenes making sure everything ran smoothly was David Mutter and Joe Queen.
Following the reception, guests were piped into lunch and David Fitzgerald of BBC Devon welcomed the guests and then asked MCGB Chairman, Clive Roberts to the stage. During the lunch the speeches and award presentations took places.
Left: Nick Green, Villeroy & BochGordon Watson of Watson’s Restaurant received The Peter Jukes Memorial Fellowship as did Neil Roseweir of Falcon. This award is given to chefs who have demonstrated their ability to remain at the very top of their profession whether that be in the restaurant world or the hospitality industry as whole. Gordon’s Restaurant has received countless accolades since first opening its doors whilst Neil has spent a lifetime going into schools and encouraging the young to pick up a pan and cook.
Both the Scottish Salmon Producer’s Organisation (formerly known to those in the MCGB as Shetland Salmon) and Villeroy & Boch have had a long association with the association. Indeed, this year marked 25 years of co-operation between the MCGB and SSPO – an occasion marked by a beautiful worded letter from the President of the French Master Chefs. Both David Sandison (SSPO) and Nick Green (Villeroy & Boch) were presented with the Outstanding Services Award.
Throughout the year, the MCGB runs a number of competitions and it was good to recognise this year’s winners:
Zest Quest Asia – Farnborough College of Technology
David Lyell Scholarship – Reece Hunt (formerly of the Eagle & Child)
Young Master Chef – Andrew Forbes, Gleneagles
Finn Crisp Challenge – Fiona Bailey, Sheffield College
The MCGB also runs an Intermediate and Advanced Training Diploma Scheme and at the luncheon certificates were presented to students from South Lanarkshire College:
Advanced Diploma – Ally Hutton and Nicole lamb
Intermediate Diploma – Yusuf Arther, Alan Darroch and Mary Wishart.
The Master Chefs of Great Britain would like to thank the management and staff of Prestonfield House and the following sponsors and supporters without whom such events could simply not take place:
ABP Food Group; Braehead Foods; Brakes; Continental Chef Supplies; Demijohn; Entier; Essential Cuisine ; Falcon; Finn Crisp; The Full Range; Gourmet Classic; Highland Game;
Inverarity Morton; Koppert Cress; Mara Seaweed; North South Wines Ltd; Scottish Salmon Producer’s Organisation; Town & Country Fine Foods; Villeroy & Boch and Wine Importers of Scotland.
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