Day Three of The Staff Canteen Live 2016 at Hotelympia

In association with

We’ve taken The Staff Canteen Live 2016 to Hotelympia at Excel London and we’ve brought some of the finest names in the industry with us.

Today we were joined by Tom Kerridge, Nick Beardshaw, Aaron Mulliss, Daniel Pearse and Angela Hartnett. Visitors were able to watch the Michelin-starred chefs create velute to compliment their dishes, cook brill to perfection and join in the banter with Tom and his head chefs on stage.

Tom Kerridge kicked off the demonstrations today with his head chef from the Hand and Flowers, Aaron Mulliss. Aaron made two dishes, his first dish was a warm gala pie with 'matson' spiced sauce, followed by a Cotswold loin of venison with boudin noir puree, allotment roots, ragout pie and cow puff. Tom was then joined on stage for another demonstration with head chef from The Coach, Nick Beardshaw. Nick took the challenge of cooking three dishes, starting off with smoked ox tongue and deep fried cheek with sauce gribiche, followed by the 'coach burger' and mushroom risotto. 

After the demo, Tom said: "The opportunity to showcase food from both the Hand and Flowers and The Coach was wonderful, it's great for Aaron and Nick to be able to show off their skills, and their understanding of food.

"Being involved in The Staff Canteen Live is part of a journey that both us and Mark at The Staff Canteen have been on since the website went live so to see The Staff Canteen grow at about the same pace as the Hand and Flowers has has been amazing and it's a wonderful synergy that they grow together."

Tom added: "For me doing live cookery demonstrations is pretty special, to have the opportunity to do something in house and in trade is fantastic, because it gives an opportunity for people to ask questions about business, and shows them how we have grown as people in terms of the business and not just wondering whether we are appearing on television.

"People aren't coming here for entertainment value, they are coming to learn, to gain knowledge and experience, and the more you can convey that to people is really important, our role as chefs has definitely changed within the media and it's grown into more than somebody who cooks in the kitchen - to someone that's quite open, so the ability to talk and communicate is important."

Aaron said: "The Staff Canteen Live was the best demo I've ever done, the last one I did was just with Nick and only two people turned up! We are massive supporters of The Staff Canteen as they are with us.

"As a young chef, coming to see the best chefs in the country gives you massive inspiration to be better every day and to keep pushing on and to try and be as good as you can be.

"Demos like this are fantastic for the industry. People who haven't eaten in your restaurant can have an insight into what it's like, not only through your food, but also by talking. Tom loves to chat so people start to understand what goes on at the Hand and Flowers, it's not all glamour!"

Nick said: "It's a great way for chefs to interact and to share knowledge, we all love the industry. The audience are a great laugh and it's all great fun! It's inspiring to come and see someone like Tom, to hear his advice about business or cooking. The Industry is a lot more open now than it was, years ago chefs were reluctant to share their recipes and were a bit secluded whereas nowdays people are a lot more sharing and open with things."

Next on to the stage was Daniel Pearse, head pastry chef at Hakkasan London. Daniel was joined on stage by his sous chef Michael, who has been working with Daniel for two years. The pair cooked a dessert made up of 16 elements called the 'Golden Halo'. After the demonstration, Daniel said:"I felt like it was a great opportunity to show people what we do within the industry and that pastry is as equal as the whole kitchen. I wanted to show the younger generation coming into the industry that it's not a scary place, it's a great place, and it's such an adventure when you come in to the kitchen.

"If I had seen this kind of event when I was at college it would have given me the confidence to go forward and approach kitchens to get my foot in the door. Demos show everybody what we do in our kitchens. Not everybody is lucky enough to work or eat in a Michelin-starred restaurant, so to come in and to see what we are doing is brilliant."

The final chef to take to the stage was Angela Hartnett who made brill with cockles, monk's beard and pork crackling breadcrumbs. The Michelin-starred chef patron of Murano said "The Staff Canteen live was brilliant, it was a great day.

"I think there were a lot of college students here who were a bit shy in the beginning, but once they got going they were good! When I was starting out it would have been brilliant if you could have gone and seen all these chefs demo live in front of you. I think one of the things that's hard for colleges and students now is access to people, so us chefs have some social responsibility and need to go into colleges to help these guys."

She added: "I certainly think demos like this are good for the industry, it's a must! I went to see chefs when I was younger and I still get a thrill out of meeting chefs and peers. I think it's important and what we're all about and what we should do."

>>> Read more about The Staff Canteen Live 2016 at Hotelympia here   

The Staff Canteen Live will be back tomorrow. If you can't be at Hotelympia follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and watch all the demos live on our YouTube channel.