Chef in search for star; CONTEST: Budding cooks battle for Roux scholarship in Brum.Byline: By Vicky Farncombe TOP chef Top Chef is an American reality competition show that airs on the cable television network Bravo, in which chefs compete against each other in weekly challenges. They are judged by a panel of professional chefs and other notables from the food and wine industry with one or Alain Roux Roux , Pierre Paul Émile 1853-1933. French bacteriologist. His work with the diphtheria bacillus led to the development of antitoxins to neutralize pathogenic toxins. whizzed into Birmingham yesterday to find the country's next budding master chef. Six talented young cooks gathered at the University College Birmingham from across the UK to compete for the coveted 2009 Roux Scholarship. Under the watchful eyes of Alain the finalists prepared a main dish from an end of lamb and a dessert from a box of secret ingredients, revealed on the day as sugar, eggs, cream, milk, vanilla pods and gelatine. "They were not pleased with the ingredients," said Alain, who began his training in 1984 as a pastry chef A pastry chef or pâtissier is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels, bistros, restaurants, and bakeries. . "No flour, no fruit, we were a bit cheeky." Alain said he had never taken part in such a Ready Steady Cook-style challenge himself but often liked to test his skill by focussing on just one ingredient. "My favourite ingredient is black truffle truffle (trŭf`əl) [Fr.], subterranean edible fungus that forms a mutually beneficial (symbiotic) relationship with the roots of certain trees and plants. The part of the fungus used as food is the ascoma, the fruiting body of the fungus. ," he said. "I am not a cheap man. "But take me for fish and chips fish and chips pl.n. Fried fillets of fish and French-fried potatoes. Noun 1. fish and chips - fried fish and french-fried potatoes dish - a particular item of prepared food; "she prepared a special dish for dinner" and I'll be happy too." Alain, who is chef patron at the three-star Michelin restaurant The Waterside Inn, in Bray, became involved in his family's scholarship scheme in 2000. "You like to be able to help theseyoungpeople progress but they also motivate me by the way they are," he said. "The last few years we have had more chefs from India and they amaze me. The way that they cook, the smells, the spices they use, I am definitely inspired." From 20 contestants at two regional finals (the other was held in Ealing), six were chosen to go to the national final on Monday, April 6, in London. The eventual winner bags a three-month placement at a three-star Michelin restaurant plus pounds 5,000 cash to further their studies, as well as a trip to visit Champagne Gosset and a set of Global Knives worth pounds 1,000. Former Roux scholar Steve Love, now head chef at the Cotswold House Hotel in Chipping Campden, said winning in 1997 changed his life. "Just meeting the Roux family was phenomenal," said Steve, who lives in Hampton Lucy outside Stratford-upon-Avon. "These guys are the Gods of British cooking. "It's opened somany doors and taken my cooking in a completely different direction." CAPTION(S): Alain Roux tries the results of the cooking test. Pictures: Jason Skarratt JS050309ROUX-1; Alain Roux with winners Stephen Stevens and Hrishikesh Desai. JS050309ROUX-4 |
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