University chefs win gold for second year in a row

The event is a highlight of any university chef’s calendar with over 20 universities and 60 chefs competing for the coveted gold medal. The team from Exeter, included Aaron Tong (Head Chef, Holland Hall), Richard Narramore (Head Chef, La Touché) and Andrew Lewis (Chef de Partie, Holland Hall).

The team were set the task of producing a 4 course meal, in just two hours using red gurnard to start, guinea fowl for the main course, followed by a pre-dessert using seasonal British fruit and a dessert of their choice. Exeter’s winning menu included pan seared red gurnard served with a warm salad of fine green beans, smoked bacon and celeriac purée finished with a red wine reduction, followed by gently cooked guinea fowl supreme, warm guinea fowl Scotch egg, pea puree, shimeji mushroom, smoked mashed potato and Madeira jus. For their choice of a seasonal pre-dessert they produced rhubarb consommé, basil tapioca and rhubarb emulsion and finished off their exquisite menu with a chocolate and lime dessert which included a salted brown butter chocolate pavé, toasted marzipan semi-freddo and zesty lime panna cotta.

Head Chef Aaron Tong said: "We are delighted to have won the gold award for a second year in a row, none of us could quite believe it when the announcement was made. The standard is always so high at TUCO that we knew we would have to give it our all. I really enjoy competing at a national level and to win gold is just amazing.”

Janet Woolacott (Chef de Partie, Reed Hall) was also successful at the competitions achieving the bronze award in the individual ‘Major Chef of the Year’ category. Her menu, which had to consist of three courses and incorporate products from the Major range, included a butternut squash, sweet chilli and coconut soup. Followed by seared pork fillet with pan fried black pudding with a west country apple cider sauce and finished with a clementine panna cotta, served with cracked black pepper shortbread and strawberry mint salsa.

Janet commented: “Although I have taken part in the TUCO competitions before I have never competed on my own. It was incredibly nerve racking but I got lots of support from the rest of the team and was really pleased with what I produced. To come away with an award was fantastic.”

Matt Burridge (Catering Assistant, La Touché) also performed extremely well at the competitions when he took part in the inaugural Barista competition.

Jilly Court, Director of Operations (Campus Services) who attended the award evening said: "I am immensely proud of the whole team, the effort they put in both leading up to and during the competitions has been incredible. The role of our chefs and front of house staff is very diverse and they constantly have to adapt to meet the needs of our customers. The TUCO competitions are always an exciting time of the year and clearly demonstrate the exceptional level of skill in the university sector. To win gold for the second year in a row, combined with the additional bonus of picking up a bronze award this year, really demonstrates just how talented and dedicated the team are at Exeter.”