A Taste of Excellence

Lincolnshire Life County Cuisine Awards
Young Chef of the Year 2012
Lincoln College was once again the host venue for the Lincolnshire Life Taste of Excellence Young Chef of the Year competition. Four talented students, aged between seventeen and eighteen years of age, competed during a three hour cook off to produce a two course meal which was then served to the judging panel.

The criteria for their menus included seasonal influences as well as the use of locally sourced ingredients. The judging panel included Alan Pierce, head chef of Lincoln College; Sue Van Zyl, director of the School of Business, Lincoln College; Adrian Hollingsworth instructor/assessor with Lincoln College and Caroline Bingham, chief executive of County Life Limited, publishers of Lincolnshire Life.

Highlights among the dishes produced included Jack Bridges’ pan-roasted mallard breast served with an orange sorbet, roasted beetroots, pak choi, orange reduction syrup, micro basil and roasted hazelnuts; Anna Mendy’s Lincolnshire-style sausage, peppers and mushroom pasta served with freshly made garlic bread and Liam Vella’s rose veal Wellington with Lincolnshire sausage stuffing, spiced poached pear, Savoy cabbage and a spiced port reduction. The overall winner was Gini Robinson who cooked pan-fried venison cutlets with roasted shallots, fondant potato, a juniper berry and port sauce, then garnished with pancetta. Her triple layer lemon tart with glazed figs and blackberry coulis was judged to be the best dish of the competition.

FEBRUARY AWARDS CEREMONY WILL BE AN EVENING OF FINE DINING
The competition judges are out and about sampling the best three establishments in the other three categories of the Lincolnshire Life County Cuisine Awards: House of Townend Best Restaurant; Tastes of Lincolnshire Best Pub Food and Heart of Gold Best Tearoom or Coffee Shop. The finalists will be invited to a glittering awards ceremony which will be held on Thursday, 7th February at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Lincoln. Lincolnshire Life is delighted to be associated with this event in partnership with The Select Lincolnshire and Tastes of Lincolnshire Partnership who will be presenting their own Food and Drink Awards 2013 alongside the Lincolnshire Life County Cuisine Awards. Full details of the event will be in January’s issue of Lincolnshire Life.

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