From winner to peeler

My fantastic day at Fischer's Baslow Hall…

Fischer's Baslow Hall

Late last year I took part in a 'masterchef' competition between my university, Sheffield Hallam and our rivals The University of Sheffield through the Sheffield on a Plate project.

The build up to the competition included a six week training cookery course at Sheffield College with cookery experts Neil Taylor and Mick Burke. During the course the chosen six students from each university were taught different recipes and methods of cooking to make sure we were ready for the big day.

My winning dish

On competition day myself and the other students arrived at the College at 8am to make sure that we had all of the preparation ready for when our 70 guests arrived later that evening for dinner. Myself and another Hallam student were given the main course to cook which was a complex and demanding dish of honey glazed pork belly, alongside a curry pork fillet, pureed swede with sea kale and mustard mash potato topped with a pork crisp. The pork belly alone was slow cooked for 30 hours.

The competition was judged by Michelin starred chef Rupert Rowley of Fischer's Baslow Hall, Derby. Rupert watched us throughout the day preparing food and then during the hectic time of service in which myself and the other students were thrown in at the deep end plating up for our 70 diners. Rupert crowned Hallam students the winners and explained that my dish was the stand out dish of the evening. "I judged the food on various criteria such as the taste and the flavour, but the dish that really stood out for me tonight was the pork. For that reason I announce Sheffield Hallam University as the winning team of the Masterchef competition."

Myself and the rest of the winning Hallam team on competition day

As a prize we were awarded a day shadowing Rupert in his kitchen at Fischer's. This was something I was really looking forward to, having worked in kitchens before in pubs and small restaurants I was excited to see the detail that goes into food of such a high standard as well as picking up some tips on how to make my food of a Michelin star quality.

On Sunday 23^rd March 2014 I had my day at Fischer's Baslow Hall, which was definitely an experience I won't be forgetting in a hurry, for all the wrong reasons.
 Upon arrival I was issued with my apron which was nicely embroidered and ironed and was given my name badge before being led into the busy kitchen. 

The chefs were all lovely and welcoming but Rupert was nowhere to be seen, after asking where he was I was told "Oh no he doesn’t work on Sundays…", which left me wondering why invite us down on this day when you're not working? I put that aside and asked what it was I was going to be doing for the day, I was then paired up with chef Sam Baker who was in charge of the vegetables for lunch service.

The best peeled parsnips you'll ever see

For the next two hours I was peeling, chopping and grating vegetables, something I do at home every weekend in preparation for a Sunday lunch. There was no skill required, nothing was new to me and it certainly wasn't something I would consider a prize. I was then asked to prepare a basic béchamel sauce, again something I have made a hundred times in the past but I was excited to be near an actual cooker. While making the sauce I asked a chef what it was going to be used for, I was told it was for our lunch before the diners arrived...

I spent the afternoon in the gardens of Baslow Hall potting cabbages with the gardener Terry who explained that they would be used in the summer in the restaurant. This filled me with a bit of joy that at least something I have tendered would be used eventually. 180 cabbages later Terry and I realised my 3 inch acrylic nails weren't ideal for gardening and had just about put the world to rights over several cups of tea.

 I couldn't help but feel deflated about my day. Although the staff could not have been more welcoming at Fischer's I walked away feeling disappointed that my day in the Michelin starred restaurant wasn't what was sold to me. I never saw any of my perfectly peeled parsnips on a plate, I never shadowed the head chef because he 'doesn’t work on Sundays' and I ruined my nails. My personal highlights of the day, eating the fish pie I made at lunch time and the lovely drive through the Peak District on the way home. 

I guess I did learn something at Fischers, in the restaurant industry you really do have to start at the bottom, in my case giving it the chop.