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 Welsh Champion Chef Dermott Slade Now in Residence at Swansea's

Newly Renovated Grand Hotel  Opened July 2nd!

DOUBLE BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION FOR NEW NATIONAL CHEF OF WALES  

Swansea chef Dermott Slade celebrated his 33rd birthday in memorable style as he clinched the coveted title of National Chef of Wales on February 25, 2004 . The talented consultant chef with Swansea College at Sketty Hall impressed judges with his culinary skills in the final at the Welsh International Salon Culinaire at the North Wales Theatre and Conference Centre, Llandudno.

Representing South Wales in the final, he held off a strong challenge from three rival chefs to win £1,000 in prize money, a specially commissioned trophy and a semi final place in the UK Chef of the Year contest at Olympia in September.

He will also be recreating his winning menu for 100 guests at the National Chef of Wales presentation dinner at the Imperial Hotel, Llandudno on April 1.

"Words can't express how I feel," was Dermott's reaction after being declared the champion. "To be number one in Wales is absolutely fantastic. I'm proud to be Welsh and part of the exciting cooking scene in Wales .

"Hopefully winning the National Chef of Wales is just the start. I now want to bring back the UK Chef of the Year title to Wales ."

He said an early morning telephone call from his children, Eleri, Tomos and Iwan, to wish him a happy birthday and good luck in the final had put him in a good frame of mind.

Dermott describes his cooking style as uncomplicated, clean cut, fresh, full of modern techniques and big on flavour.

The four finalists faced the ultimate challenge of conjuring up a three-course meal in three hours from the mystery contents of a black box, which were only revealed an 30 minutes before the cook-off. The box contained winning products from the True Taste / Gwir Flas Wales Food and Drink Awards from the last two years and other Welsh ingredients.

Organised by the Welsh Culinary Association and jointly sponsored by the Welsh Development Agency and Hybu Cig Cymru / Meat Promotion Wales, the prestigious competition is held every two years.

The beaten finalists were Nick Walton, 34, from Cross Lanes Country House Hotel, Marchwiel, Sean Cullingford, 31, of Lake Country House, Llangammarch Wells and Gareth Dwyer, 24, sous chef at the Castle Hotel, Conwy.

The competition judges included Siegfried Schaber, president of the World Association of Cooks Societies, who was making his first official visit to Wales at the invitation of the Welsh Culinary Association. He praised the high standard of the competition.

Joining him on the judging panel were Welsh National Culinary Team captain Lee Jeynes, of Alchemy Chef Services, Windermere, vice captain Nick Davies, of Cambrian Training Company, Welshpool, Colin Gray, of Capital Cuisine, Cardiff and Andy Goode, former executive chef at the Imperial Hotel, Llandudno.

Mr Goode, chairman of the judging panel, praised Dermott's professional approach, hard work, good use of the available ingredients and the flavour and texture of his dishes.

He was interested to see how the chefs responded to the black box challenge. "It's quite a taxing thing to do even for experienced chefs and while some found it difficult others thrived on it," he added.

The black box of ingredients included racks of lamb from William Lloyd Williams and Son Butchers, Machynlleth, beef fillets from Cig Arfon, Caernarfon, and pork and leek sausages from Edwards of Conwy Butchers. Also contained were assorted Pembertons Chocolates, Llanboidy, organic flour from Bacheldre Watermill Organic Flours, Churchstoke, double cream, butter, natural yoghurt, ginger yoghurt, crème frais and coconut yoghurt from Rachel's Organic Dairy, Aberystwyth. Further contents were assorted salts from Anglesey Sea Salt Company, organic lamb meatballs from Bron y Gan Lamb, Llanegryn and assorted pates from Patchwork Traditional Food Company Ltd, Ruthin.

The menus cooked by the four chefs were:

Dermott Slade: First course: Monkfish risotto, scallop, mussel and parsley soup. Main course: Roast Welsh beef, carrot and honey parfait with bresaola and potato terrine. Dessert: Blackberry yoghurt ice and soft chocolate pudding with raspberry curd cream.

Nick Walton: First course: Cold white almond soup with herb oil and crispy Welsh bresaola. Main course: Braised Welsh beef on a vegetable gateaux with Welsh sausage cassellete. Dessert: Tempura of fruits with a pineapple espuma and banana honey cream.

Gareth Dwyer: First course: Bresaola wrapped monkfish tail with a fresh herb custard, glazed artichokes, mussels and lobster essence. Main course: Braised shoulder of lamb, chargrilled rack of lamb, root vegetable compote, rosemary croquette potato and red wine jus. Dessert: Assiette of apple, apple charlotte, apple jelly, apple crisp, Italian meringue and apple jus.

Sean Cullingford:  First course: red mullet, tian of aubergines, tomato and basil with scallop and mussel sauce and special yoghurt. Main course: Cutlet of lamb, braised lamb and leek galette, stuffed peppers, lemongrass jus, Jerusalem and potato puree. Dessert: roasted pear with ginger and almond bananas, spiced pain perdu and Baileys cream sauce.