ONE of the country’s top gastropubs has signed up for Le Cordon Bleu Henley Food Festival.
The Hinds Head, in Bray, will cook and serve a selection of signature dishes for people to try in the restaurant area.
It is owned by top chef Heston Blumenthal, whose restaurant next door, the Fat Duck, holds three Michelin stars and has twice been named the world’s best.
A traditional village inn with a history dating back 600 years, Blumenthal has taken the Hinds Head back to its historical roots.
Working closely with the Tudor kitchen at Hampton Court Palace, the chef has re-introduced historic British dishes to his menus, as well as old favourites like oxtail and kidney pudding, pea and ham soup and Lancashire hot pot.
Festival chairman Simon Cromack said: “This is a great endorsement for the food festival from the most outstanding chef in the country. It is absolutely right that the fantastic, hearty flavours produced at The Hinds Head will be seen at our celebration of the best the Thames Valley can offer.”
Meanwhile, the remaining first rounds of the Cordon Bleu Henley Food Festival Cook-off took place on Wednesday.
The judges at the Little Angel in Remenham — Paul Clerehugh of the Crooked Billet at Stoke Row, Giancarlo Caldesi of Caldesi in Campagna in Bray, and Stuart Conibear, teaching chef for Le Cordon Bleu — told contestants they were looking for “taste and seasoning, tidy work and maximising flavours.”
The first contestants, Peter Lambert from Wargrave and his “eating buddy” John Murdoch, did not disappoint the audience.
Mr Lambert’s king prawn and monkfish curry drew praise for its “brilliance”, but the judges unanimously picked Mr Murdoch’s wild sea bass and mussels, hailing it as “cooked to perfection”.
In the second heat of the evening, Matt Bailey, from Ferry Lane, Aston, served scallops with a butternut squash and roast garlic puree. His opponent was David Yarnton, a managing director of Nintendo from Binfield Road in Sherlock Row, who cooked an Aussie-style rack of lamb.
Judge Giancarlo Caldesi said that both cooks demonstrated differing techniques and were “really impressive”, and Stuart Conibear said that these two “really raised the bar”. Mr Bailey was declared the winner.
Judges were unable to separate Kean Gunton from Pyrton and Ruth Kitching, from Burnham Beeches, in the final heat.
Both Mr Gunton’s pork tenderloin and Ms Kitching’s wild mushroom risotto with parma ham and a wild rocket salad drew praise, but the judges were unable to separate the entries and the leg ended in a dead heat.
They will now have to hone their skills for the second round of cook-offs next week, taking place at The Baskerville Arms in Shiplake on Tuesday and at the Little Angel in Henley on Wednesday.
Peter McConnell, one of the food festival organisers, said: “We have been astonished by the extremely high quality of all the contestants, producing some beautiful food.
“We are especially grateful to chefs Giancarlo Caldesi, Mike Robinson, Paul Clerehugh and Stuart Conibear who joined in the fun and had to make some very difficult judging decisions.
“We can’t wait until the quarter finals next week, which are sure to be tense, and I’d encourage everyone in Henley to come out for a great community event.”
Information and tickets for the festival are available at at www.henleyfoodfestival.co.uk
View more photographs
Published on 06 April 2009
|
