There is nothing more important than nurturing and introducing new and ethical food to our future chefs. This year, we have collaborated with four colleges, organising cooking competitions for their food and culinary students, applying Foie Royale in their dish for entry.

The first to kick off the competition was Westminster Kingsway College, a UK leading school of hospitality and culinary arts. Thanks to Tom Egerton and Chris Basten, the Chef Lecturers at Westminster Kingsway College and our Ambassador Chef, Dan Moon for being the judges and sharing their valuable experience with the participants. Tom commented, ‘It was a great opportunity for our 3rd year students, giving them a chance to work with a high-quality product that they don’t get a chance to see every day. From the paper entry to the final dishes, the students thought hard about different ways in which Foie Royale could be used. Some worked better than others, but that is what competitions are about. Developing ideas, creating a dish and taking on the pressure while competing against others.  It’s another learning curve and a way to test students as they grow and develop as chefs.’ Well said Tom, it is exactly the key purpose of running this competition!

On 4 May, it was the big day for all the finalists! Congratulations to the winners who successfully demonstrated the versatility of Foie Royale.

Grand winner – White chocolate and cherry Foie Royale cheesecake with a raspberry mirror glaze, created by Sooraya Blanchette

Sooraya said, ‘The inspiration behind my dish was that after tasting the Foie Royale, the first thought I had was it tasted like cheesecake, which is why I decided to expand upon the idea of actually incorporating the Foie Royale into a cheesecake. Then the idea of matching duck to cherries and the plan started coming together. The competition itself was a nice challenge! It forced me to think outside the box because of how unfamiliar I was with the Foie Royale.’

1st runner up – Foie Royale sausage roll with beetroot chutney and piccalilli, by Fraser Woodley 

Fraser’s dish inspiration:

‘I took inspiration for my dish on trying to take a spin on a British classic as the coronation of King Charles the 3rd was upcoming. I enjoyed the competition and the opportunity it gave me to work with a new alternative ingredient that is a big breakthrough in the Culinary world.’

2nd runner up - Duck and herb Ballotine with Foie Royale, Foie Royale stuffed Morel, clove and anise pickled fennel, pommes anna, Albufera sauce, by Jackson Carter

Jackson expressed, ‘I think the competition was a great experience, and a brilliant concept from Foie Royale that gives freedom to the competitors to produce almost any dish they would like to. As for my dish, I was thinking of a way to build a plate based around this product in a refined brasserie style. This involved researching through various books and finding different flavour combinations that worked well with Foie Royale, and figuring out ways I could use it in my dish. After coming up with 3 components that use the product and elevate it, I had to think of ways of adding some acidity and freshness to balance the particularly rich fatty flavours from the Foie Royale. Overall, I was happy with the dish I came out with but feel that it could have been executed better on the day, but that is competitions for you!’

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