A real treat to be allowed to cook my starter course in a professional kitchen, something that I had never done before. This was a whole different environment to the studio; it was a little bit scary and at the same time very exciting. Here I would meet the best of Britain’s best cooks, all the other six regional finalists in the starter category.
What a lovely group of people, all different ages and backgrounds with a story to tell of the origins of their chosen dishes.
The stakes had been raised in this round of the competition not only would we be cooking for the judges but also for three food critics; in an environment I was not used to and using equipment very different to domestic appliances, this round was going to be very testing!
I had taken on board the criticisms I had received in the previous round and had decided to double strain my veloute to improve both the consistency and to counteract the sweetness of my Petit pois by using lemon juice and a drop of apple balsamic vinegar. More mustard would be added to the butter.
However because the straining of the veloute now took twice as long I was very anxious that 50 minutes would not be enough time. I was so eager to impress, my heart was pumping and I felt dizzy with anxiety and adrenalin.
All seven of us entered the kitchen it was time to start cooking. Firstly I prepared the veloute vegetables, then the rocket oil and next my bread- but oh no my oven had been turned off!! Hastily we ignited it and the bread went in with 20 minutes to go.
Time was running out, panic set in my veloute was taking ages to strain and when I finally finished the taste was very sweet and it was much too thin! Oh no what was I to do, John noticed my dilemma and joined me in the kitchen. He guided me and helped me to focus again, telling me that I had come too far to go out of the competition at this stage.
I ran to the blast cookers and transferred my bread into them, with five minutes to go I seasoned my Veloute adding cream and butter to counteract the acidity of the lemon juice that I had heavy handily added. It worked, thank God! I then turned my attention to plating up; my bread was done within seconds of the plates being tasted by the judges. I had done it- Just! Emotion set in and tears streamed down my face, the crew were so lovely and comforted me. I really was so unsure how the judges would view my dish. I had felt so rushed so out of control- please God I whispered let me go through.
We were called in for the verdict, all lined up ready for the judges cull. The first bullet was fired! John announced that only four of us would be chosen to cook for the food critics, the others would be sent home! Waiting there seemed like an eternity, but then in the fuzz and blur I heard my name- once again I was through- fantastic!!! But I was only half way there- now I had to convince the food critics.
I and the other lucky chosen three walked down the stairs to present our starter dishes to the critics. They stood there expressionless as we placed our dishes in front of them. They would taste them in private and then relay their decision to the judges.
Once again it was a waiting game, all of us unsure of what the decision would be. At last we were called in for the final verdict. Ivan was put through first with his smoked mackerel pate and beetroot done three ways. The three ladies were left. I was so shocked the second person to go through and to cook at the Savoy hotel was ... Penny Zako, with her pea Veloute and marinated ham hock- ME, whow I had done it!
I Love Our British Food.
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