Day two of The Staff Canteen Live 2017 was kicked off with any chocoholics dream, Beverley Dunkley head of the UK Chocolate Academy for Callebaut, took to the stage and created two beautiful pieces made out of Callebaut chocolate.
The first dish was layering a beer sponge chocolate gateaux with butter cream icing and then topping it with a glossy chocolate ganache. Beverley then moved onto decorating the cake with a beautiful yellow flower, also made from Callebaut chocolate. However, Beverley did not stop there, she then went ontomake a chocolate candle filled with Italian chocolate mousse, again another spectacular piece.
Beverley said: "The Staff Canteen Live is a great experience and I just want to go back and do it again."
Second to take the stage was Nick Edgar, head chef of Michelin-starred The Samling Hotel. Nick created a Halibut and miso dish, also using Wild Atlantic Prawns and Westlands products. With The Staff Canteen Live being the first live demo Nick has ever done, he certainly pulled out all the stops. Joining Nick on stage was a student from UCB Birmingham College and Nick said: "It's important to get the young chefs involved and get them working with the top end chefs."
Next to take the stage was Birminghams very own award winning, restauranteur Aktar Islam. Aktar, the owner of the Lasan Group cooked wild bass fillet, aubergine bartha, wilted greens and keralan coconut sauce. He said: "One of my favourite things about being in the restaurant industry is the amount you get back from the people you are cooking for."
He used a selection of products from our headline sponsor Westlands in his dish, who he has worked with for 8 years, he said: "It was fantastic having them here and being able to go over and help yourself to what you need."
To close today's show, Great British Menu star Adam Reid from Adam Reid at The French, decided to showcase his Golden Empire dish hoping to wow the audience while blowing his sugar apple. Working with sugar on a live stage was a challenge but Adam did manage to create that all important sugar apple which was woth the wait once served in the golden apple bowl. Adam said: "It's amazing having audience interaction. It's no longer about standing behind the scenes and creating some amazing dishes and sending them out."
Westlands products
He added: "It's a great opportunity for the students to get involved with, there is still an issue getting people into the industry but live events like this help to get people motivated and inspire them to keep moving forward in their career."
Without our sponsors we couldn't put on The Staff Canteen Live one of those sponsors is Callebaut and their Marketing Manager Gourmet, Axelle Jeangirard, said: "It's a pleasure for us to work with The Staff Canteen and get across our message for the Callebaut campaign Make It Special. We want to highlight the demand for special desserts and how chefs can address these demands.
"Being next to the stage has meant we have been very busy and it's generated a lot of interaction - we think it's a great way to reach out to chefs."
We are excited for our third and final day of The Staff Canteen Live, and to be joined by even more amazing chefs.
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Beverley said: "The Staff Canteen Live is a great experience and I just want to go back and do it again."
