Compass Group UK & Ireland Chefs Take Home Tilda Chef Team of the Year Award
The winners of the Tilda Chef Team of The Year 2021 have been announced.
Tilda is excited to announce that Compass Group UK & Ireland has won Tilda Chef Team of the Year 2021, in a thrilling Salon Culinaire live final held at the University of West London.
The winning team from 14forty – the FM multiservice specialist at Compass Group UK & Ireland – included Executive Chef, Wayne Corbett and Hospitality Chef Manager, Nicola Harper who wowed the judges with their plant based, Asian inspired menu and scooped the Salon silver. The talented chef duo made Thai Pineapple Fried Rice with Smoked Crispy Salt and Pepper Tofu and Puffed Wild Rice Dukkha & Tamarind Sauce using Tilda Giant Wild Rice and Tilda Easy Cook Basmati. The dessert was a Sweet Coconut & Stem Ginger Jasmine Rice with a Mango puree, lime mango & Mint Salsa and Crispy rice rolled in cinnamon sugar using Tilda Fragrant Jasmine Rice.
Each team had just 45 minutes to prepare, cook and present four portions of a main course and a dessert using a Tilda speciality rice. Tilda encouraged each chef team to explore the endless culinary possibilities of using Tilda speciality rice to tap into the latest global food trends that are currently influencing menus and the food we eat.
The Covid-safe live final* included guest judges Chef Patron Cyrus Todiwala, Salon Culinaire Chef Director Steve Munkley, Executive Head Chef of Baxter Storey Frank Coughlan, Head of Culinary at Wembley Stadium Harry Lomas, as well as Jo Witchell from Tilda UK, who had the difficult task of choosing the winning chef team.
Speaking about the winners, Jo Witchell, Commercial Foodservice Marketing Manager, Tilda UK says:
“Tilda Chef Team of the Year has been a very special live competition this year, it was the last prior to lockdown in 2020 and we’re thrilled to be the first live final out of lockdown. We’re so happy to crown Wayne and Nicola as this year’s winning chef team, their plant based Thai Pineapple Rice and Coconut & Stem Ginger Jasmine Rice really delivered on both presentation and taste and showcased the endless possibilities of Tilda rice.
“While we know that the hospitality industry is still in recovery, it’s clear from today that chefs are hungry to be back in the kitchen and it was fantastic to watch some of the best battle it out in a thrilling live final.”
Along with Tilda’s famous blue trophy, the Compass Group UK & Ireland chefs will enjoy a once in a lifetime gastronomic trip to Italy, to visit the rice paddies and mills that produce Tilda’s speciality rice and sample the very best of the local food and produce.
Speaking after the announcement, Executive Chef, Wayne Corbett said;
“It’s incredible to have won. We love Asian cuisine and used it as a base to develop the plant based menu. All the hard work paid off, we got the timings just right, we knew what we needed to do and we smashed it! I can’t believe we’re heading to Italy and I’m especially happy to see Nicola win her first live competition!”
Wayne Corbett, Executive Chef
The runners up were Alex Le’Marquand & Neal Harding – Royal Air Force, Istvan Jonas & Ross Hamilton – Sodexo Scotland and Terry O’Riordan & Oliver Jordan, Craft Guild of Chefs who received recognition for their menus and were awarded a bronze medal, along with Marina Kritikopoulou & Andrew Foulis – House of Commons and Lijo Joy & Sherin Sebastian – Compass (Caterham School).
The Tilda Chef Team of the Year competition aims to highlight just how versatile rice can be, helping chefs to cater for a wide range of food trends and diets – thanks to the grain’s versatility and wide appeal.
*All attendees completed a lateral flow test
