Running up to this year's Scottish Chefs Conference, we are talking to the demonstrator chefs taking part in this year's special ten year anniversary. We spoke to William Curley yesterday, and today we are with James 'Jocky' Petrie, executive development chef for the Gordon Ramsay Group, formerly from The Fat Duck and Ledbury London.
What does it mean to you to be at the 10th anniversary?
I think it's amazing what Willie Pike has put together over the years, so it's a great honour to be there. I participated in the 2007 event, and I remember there weren't many people there to begin with, but over the years it’s just got bigger and bigger. I'm very honoured and humbled to be a part of the 10th anniversary.
Do you know what you are going to be cooking yet?
I would like to do one of my dishes that I created myself a couple of years ago. It is based on a classic recipe for Belle Helene, which traditionally is poached pear with chocolate sauce and almonds. But, I studied the history of that dish, and found that it was originally created with violet, too. I also took into consideration the story behind the opera 'La belle Hélène' which is based on the Trojan horse. So I created a dish to look like a half a pear... But when you eat it, it’s actually a pear mousse with a pear jelly served with violet ice cream and chocolate custard and violet biscuit on the side. For me it’s a modern interpretation of a classic dessert.
I would also like to introduce people to what is happening within the Gordon Ramsay group. Showing them what is cooked within their 14 London restaurants, going from fine dining to all day dining.
Why do you want to be part of the conference?
To thank Willie for all of his work and effort! I just want to give credit to him because he is a very skilled chef but he is very humble about it. I would do anything for him, and he says the same to me. I aspire to be at the level he is at.
It’s a shame that Willie is finishing the conference, but hopefully it continues to be successful because I’ll continue to support it.
So with a live demo or show has anything gone wrong?
One time, I was doing a demo in Belgium, at an event called Flemish premises. I did it with a friend of mine called Dominique Persoone from the Chocolate Line. We made a teacake with a pink shell on the outside and stuck a pipette inside it, then on top we put a red wine gum, so it looked a bit like a breast! We had this milk that was flavoured with the smell of a baby, so the idea was, you put the breast like chocolate into your mouth, you squeeze on the pipette and you suck the nipple and drink the milk... then you could eat the chocolate!
But not all of the nipples were stuck to the top, so some people sucked so hard that they came off and hit the back of their throat. We were worried when people started coughing and spluttering, and one of the people that it happened to was Heston Blumenthal, he choked on his nipple! He wasn't massively impressed let’s say that.
By Katie Pathiaki
