Where has this year gone!!!!!!!!!!!.

Already now finished designing the winter menus for December, January and February. which means we must only be 8 weeks away from Christmas, time has flown by.

Here are some of the highlights for BA First Class for winter menus. as you will see we have tried to be as innovative as we can with use of winter ingredients, lots of root vegetables, some seafood and a few indulgent treats.



Here we have the amuse bouche for February its a Mini Potted Grimsby Shrimps with Melba Toast and the valentine dessert for February a Heart Shaped Panna Cotta with Winter Berry Coulis. As winter is the theme we have a lovely comfort dish of vanilla risotto with candid fruit and a caramelised poached pear.



As you may have gathered from previous posts we have a strong relationship with Loche Fyne and they supply all our fish for first class. so this seasons highlights are loche Duarte in December, Wild Monk Fish in January and then Wild Sea Bass in February. below you will see the spiced cornmeal crusted monk fish with braised puy lentils and a curry leaf and preserved lemon dressing. the sea bass is served with a swede and parsnip gratin, charred tender stem broccoli and a cockle and clam vinaigrette. All I can say is the quality of the fish makes my job much easier.




Another highlight has to be Beetroot for me in winter it is a superb vegetable and very versatile. Here we have combined a salad of Warm Smoked Mozzarella, orange fillets, roasted pistachios and baby beetroots this is served with an orange pistachio dressing. The other Dish is for January its beetroot ravioli with pecorino cheese and a beetroot and scallion dressing. simple but effective. the pasta is made by a great company Called UGO the have been pasta in London for about 50 years in fact its said they used to make pasta for the Italian restaurants and the noodles for most of china town.




last preview dishes are a simple paella with king prawn served with a lovely marinated fennel salad and a chicory tart tatin with a pomegranate salad and orange formage blanc.




will post more soon when i get a spare 5 minutes. hope you enjoy the sneak peak at some of the new first dishes for winter. remember it is airline food. Not all ways a chicken curry or beef stew.

Happy cooking


Steve

What a mad few months its been. we have been working hard on the new autumn menus, plus making sure the summer menus get up and running smoothly. we had a lot to catch up on after the strikes. although BA did a grand job on running a service while the crew were striking we had to change a lot of what we did to accommodate the contingency plan. So life here is almost back to normal and going in the right direction. The focus was on Autumn with the airline wanting to showcase the season and local sourcing better within the menus. This was great for us as we get to really push the team to try and come up with something new and exciting. we also thought we would go a bit Retro with some of the dishes. Bringing in some classic dishes with a modern twist such as beef wellington, coq au vin, even managed to reinvent a blanchmange thanks to our friends at Lasting Impressions (dessert company). below are a few highlights of the sept, oct, november menus that you will see in first class.

yet again our great friends at loch fyne will be supplying us with some great offerings for the summer menus with wild cod, guilt head bream and sea trout. all fresh and caught of the British coast or farmed locally. For me its a brilliant asset to the menus as we get the best quality at the best time of the year. also their new recipe gravidlax and bradon orach smoked salmon will be making an appearence. all i can say is these products are a different league to most smoked salmon products.
















As well as the new menus we have started to look at how can we change things for the future. the biggest issues for most airlines is the crockery and style of service. So we took the bait to say well if we could do anything how would we like to serve the food. so below are just a few little concepts that we feel take the dishes to a different level. nothing mind blowing just a few subtle changes and an easier style can make a big difference





Also managed to have a bit of down time as well, getting a couple of days at TASTE of LONDON in Regents Park. This is a cracking event and a real chance to see what is going on in London and Britain with food. Or should i say a great bit of networking and trying to eat at every stand. not forgetting my great mates at Lovely Bubbly. who produce the best champagnes around and the good news is they are a BRITISH company based up north that make everything here. check them out www.lovelybubbly.co.uk . you won't be disappointed. Suffered a bit the following day but nice to let my hair down and be on the customer side for a change.

Happy cooking People

Steve

Strange times at the moment, this volcano business has turned everything on its head. Heathrow went from being a busy hustle and bustle to an absolute ghost town in one fail swoop. One minute we are all full steam ahead and the next the tumble weeds are rolling through...

Good news for us is that we finished all our summer menu presentations for June, July and August for first class British Airways last week. Still a bit strange that I have to design seasonal dishes one season ahead. But we have great suppliers and companies that really help us to get the best products possible.

We have now completely changed the way airline food for all our customers is sourced, presented and designed. Yes you will see “chicken or beef” or as the crew call it “feather or Leather" as such, but this is not the only choice. It's hard to try and change something that has a funny reputation as it's been the same for years. The reason is simple; it is such a complex process that certain dishes simply cannot be done, but with the application of new techniques and processes, it means we getting closer to achieving even more than ever before.

So what are some of the highlights on the summer menus?... Well where do I start. We have worked closely with Loch Fyne fisheries to come up with locally sourced or farmed fish for the menus and they have come back with Loch Duart Salmon, gilt head bream and monk fish. So we designed 2 assiettes and a bouillabaisse. They have also a new product citrus marinated smoked salmon which is perfect summer product.







We have a good mix of retro, classic dishes and modern twists to try and tantalize the taste buds. The gressingham duck is fabulous with its roasted crown and confit drumstick served with a celeriac and potato rosti, marinated cherries and roasted vegetables. We have Hereford sirloin Beef with Pont Neurf and Béarnaise sauce which is a beautiful piece of beef and British. Warm salad of poached egg with English asparagus and a pea and broad bean dressing is another great end of spring start of summer highlight. Also one of my favorite desserts a chocolate fondant with white chocolate ice cream, salted caramel and a hazel nut tuile. Hardly a light summer dessert but works really well.









Other companies that have helped are patchwork pates in Wales they make fabulous hummus, pates and mousses. Starke Naked Pesto’s are by far the best made pesto’s in the market. They keep their colour and flavour perfectly. They are based in Suffolk. Our meat and poultry is all from local farms such as ginger pig and drover foods in Ireland. So as far as we can, we champion British products where possible. Just so you get an idea I have attached a picture of the meal kit and the plated version so you can see that its not all pre–loaded onto plates or bowls and re – heated and is all made fresh.

We design not only the food but the plating guide too. It’s a bit like the chef cooking it and then the front of house staff following a plating manual to the chefs spec. Give them their credit the Cabin Crew have a tough job and the fact they try and cook and plate the food to a restaurant standard as well as serve and do everything else at 30,000 feet, I believe they are worth their weight in gold. So next time your on a plane have a think about the whole menu and work behind it. You will be amazed what actually goes on. Remember it may not be cutting edge but with what we have to work with, we do try and do a first class job, also as an idea we cater for about 17,500 passengers a day out of Heathrow alone. That’s a lot of food.

Happy Cooking

www.itca.com

www.gategroupmember.com


9.20pm sitting in cologne airport with a large coffee and praline chocolate egg waiting for my easy jet flight back to Gatwick, which is delayed by 30 minutes at the moment. I have now been awake for 18 hours and still have an hour flight and an hour cab ride home. So long day but been a very good one.

ITCA is a yearly event in Europe they also have others in America and Asia. It’s a networking and showcase of in-flight services and products as well as other services such as rail and seas crossings. So as Gate Gourmet which is part of Gate Group, the largest supplier of in flight catering globally, had a stand there and I was asked to go along and help showcase the culinary skills of Gate Group.

As ever we had a very large presence and a very busy stand. We had chefs from Zurich, London and Frankfurt as well as chefs from both Spain and Holland making appearances. We had a varied menu which changed daily including everything from local German cured meats and breads, to British oysters and smoked salmon. Quite strange to leave London and arrive in Germany only to have more British products to cook with than German! Even the desserts came from our good friends 'Lasting Impressions' that are based 10 minutes up the road from my kitchen in Heathrow.

It was quite a wake up call to start my very first day shucking 50 oysters and wrapping them in bacon. My hands were red raw by the start of the show and i knew there was even more oysters arriving early the very next morning! (so made sure I was busy with the canapés when they arrived ha ha).

After all morning in the kitchen I was thankful for Monty’s Bakehouse’s stall that was next to ours and their selection of posh hot wraps and warm sticky toffee puddings. They have by far the best selection of ideas and innovations in regards to hot re-heat products i've seen. Take a look at their site I think these guys will be big:

www.montysbakehouse.co.uk
www.en-route.com/uk

It was'nt all work and no play...I got to visit a few of my good friends and suppliers at the show. I can be seen in the pictures with Tracy from En Route one of our bread suppliers. They do a fabulous job of sourcing me a varied selection of the best breads in the U.K and close continent. One of the best olive oils around is Monte Vibiano. They have a fabulous range and their extra virgin olive oil that is kept at a temperature below freezing and unfiltered is stunning. I especially love these guys as they have the best red wine to taste on their stand nothing; to do with them just very good drink!

www.montevibiano.it
www.valrhona.com

Chocolate is another passion of mine so seeing Valrhona there and knowing we are looking to have them as our chocolate show case on some of our airlines meant I could sample some of the best chocolate around. On the subject of chocolate a German company “Gut Springenheide” has made my Easter. They have given me a selection of painted eggs with chocolate praline and milk chocolate inside. They basically take fresh eggs and laser cut the top off or a hole in the bottom, then they remove the content and then clean and sterilize the shells. They then fill them with whatever you require from scrambled egg, crème brulee, chocolate mousse, or just chocolate. Then all you do is eat them like a soft boiled egg out of the shell or with the chocolate praline ones you crack and peel like a hard boiled egg. It’s a bit gimmicky but it will be perfect for my daughters Easter egg hunt, Although she is nearly two and it will be hard for her to not eat the shell!

Of course it’s not all food they have some great equipment and products from premium wash bag items to funky new crockery concepts. Even new lines in kiddie meals and snack boxes designed to keep them entertained. So if you’re thinking of joining the in-flight service industry or starting an associated business, ITCA it’s a good place to visit. You can also take a look at the mercury awards which is the in-flight industry’s Oscars to see the movers and shakers of 2010.

Looking forward to my bed now as it’s nice to go away and work but nothing beats home.


Happy Cooking

Steve

Well after 5 long days its all finished for another two years Hotelympia has drawn to a close and this year has been excellent. Considering the economic climate, the show seemed big as ever and the standard of the food and competitors was very good.

As this was my first look through a judges eye I was very impressed with the different levels and variety of dishes shown. Slightly weird judging chefs I have been up against in previous years, as well as standing along side the judges that scared the daylights out of me when competing, but a great experience all round. You will see in the pictures some of the food judged, as well as the fat carving. The car was a gold medal winner. The detail is stunning but the best bit which you won’t see in the photo is the fact the chef had even carved out the underneath of the car with exhaust pipes and engine parts. It blew me away when I met the gentleman; he said it had taken 15 days from start to finish and this was his third attempt. Now that’s commitment.

The Parade de Chefs was also a high standard, well done to the boys from the house of commons for their gold medal and the Westminster college team for taking silver. It's nice to see two of my old work places still up their as leading culinary teams. I must say also the front of house students and teams form Westminster also did very well.

So now back to the full time job and focus on forth coming menus. Although off to Cologne next week for ITCA, International Travel Catering Association show 2010 which should be good. I will be on the Gate Gourmet stand with the international chefs show casing our talents.

Happy Cooking