|
One of the Birmingham's top chefs has beaten off competition from
Gordon Ramsay's restaurant at Claridge's to win a prestigious seafood
recipe award.
Sudha Shankar Saha, Executive Chef at the leading Indian restaurant
Saffron on Wolverhampton Road, triumphed in the Alaska Seafood Recipe
Challenge, organised in association with The Craft Guild of Chefs,
and held at the M&J Seafood development kitchen in London's
Covent Garden.
He was rewarded with a trophy, voucher for a set of professional
knives and a day's work experience in a top restaurant kitchen. He
has also been invited to cook and present his winning dish at the
Craft Guild of Chefs skillery at Hotelympia in London on March 1st.
The competition invited professional chefs to devise new and
innovative recipes for sustainable and wild Alaskan seafood.
Three chosen finalists cooked their recipes live in front of the
judges (Martin Bates, Craft Guild of Chefs; Steve Munkley, Royal
Garden Hotel; Christopher Basten, Marriott County Hall Hotel) who
assessed them on techniques, presentation and taste.
Saha's winning dish featured pan-fried spice-scented Alaska Salmon,
Kasoori Methi-flavoured baby spinach, and assorted mushroom Bhaji,
tomato Achar and Moilee sauce.
In second place was Neil Snowball, Jnr, sous chef of six months for
Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's, followed by Robert Stordy, chef lecturer
in Culinary Arts and International and specialist cuisine at the
University of Derby.
Sudha, who has worked in restaurants across the world and is
passionate about cooking, said; "My style is more of a modern
approach to traditional Indian cooking. I try to break conventional
boundaries, opening our eyes to multicultural cuisine. I prefer to
use local and seasonal produce, flavoured with authentic spices and
give a Western presentation."
Aklasul Momin, Director of the award winning restaurant, said;
"The judges seemed to really enjoy Sudha's dish, and were very complimentary."
Saffron restaurant, which offers an exquisite menu of Asian food
featuring the freshest ingredients and the finest seafood, was listed
in the 2010 Good Food Guide. |
Left
to right; winner Mr Sudha Shankar Saha, Group Executive Chef,
Saffron Restaurant with Andrew Brown, Alaska Seafood