Local chefs took the finest Manx ingredients and turned them into tasty dishes before a knowledgeable audience yesterday (Sunday).
Zaneta Krol from Haworths and Darren Woods from 14North competed in the Chef of the Year final at the Isle of Man Food & Drink Festival.
Geoffrey Boot MHK, Minister for Environment, Food and Agriculture; chef Colin Clague, who was guest at the festival; and Paul Caisley, from the competition’s sponsor Robinson’s, judged the final.
They awarded Darren Woods the title and he wins a number of placements in top London restaurants, co-ordinated by chef Colin Clague.
This will help Darren to expand his knowledge and experience in professional Michelin starred restaurants.
Zaneta’s dish ‘Manx as the Hills’ and Darren’s dish stuffed courgette flowers with white crab, yoghurt, sunflower seed granola, and ricotta, were cooked in a kitchen specially created for the event by Magnet.
Colin Clague said both chefs displayed great skill and confidence and it had been difficult to choose a winner.
The competition demonstrated how Manx produce could be put to imaginative use to create such varied dishes, he added.
Meanwhile, Louise Thomas was awarded the Student Chef of the Year at the festival and took home a trophy and £250 in prizemoney.
Louise’s dish was locally caught Callig, Manx Queenies, chorizo, fine beans and a white wine butter sauce. Contender Charles Hudson’s dish was Manx duck breast, potato galettes, herb salsa, squash, and wilted greens.
Both Louise and Charles learned their trade at University College Isle of Man (UCM) – which offers BTEC, GCSE and NVQ qualifications in hospitality, catering and food and drink – and qualified for the final through heats held at UCM.
Louise works at Peel Promenade Kiosk while Charles works at Comis at Mount Murray.
All four chefs had a time limit and the pressure of a large audience and fielded questions put to them by comperes Tony Quirk, a leading local chef, and Chris Franklin, chef lecturer at UCM.
Dishes were judged on use of local ingredients, taste, and presentation.
Minister Boot said:
'The chefs demonstrated the versatility of Manx produce, creating four completely different dishes that went down a treat and were hard to separate for judging purposes. The standard of competition was incredibly high, reflecting the quality of training at UCM and of our fine local restaurants.'
Paul Caisley said:
'As Robinson’s celebrates 130 years of selling high quality Manx produce to local chefs, we were delighted to again support these competitions and to see the varied dishes that resulted.'
The finalists’ recipes can be found on www.gov.im/food.
The Minister said:
'The continued growth of the food and drink sector, being driven via our Food Matters strategy, is heartening to see. The festival is the showpiece event of the year, bringing together all those with a love of Manx produce in one fantastic setting to eat, drink, pick up recipes, enjoy demonstrations and entertainment, and take home products to try. I’d like to thank the continued support from Robinson’s and everyone else who made the festival such a success.'
