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On Wednesday 23rd March 2022, the International Salon Culinaire held at The Hotel, Restaurant & Catering Show returned after being postponed in 2021 due to the pandemic. 

Essential Cuisine who proudly work with many large pub groups across the UK, sponsored the latest competition to be added to the Salon Culinaire schedule – "Pub Chef of the Year". 

We caught up with Samuel Seedhouse, Head Chef of the Bird in Hand in Reading who won the competition - judged by Brian Mellor, Ian Nottage, Duncan Parsonage, Steve Oram, Graham Crump and Essential Cuisine's very own Gary Kilminster!

Congratulations on winning the Pub Chef of the Year 2022, how did you find the experience?

Cheers! Was a great day out to spend with me and my team. A particular highlight was seeing Oli Williamson cooking on the live stage. Having never entered before everything was new to me, so was very exciting building up to the competiton. I enjoyed the engagement of the judges and the very honest feedback, the standards are so high they really nitpick through your work giving you much to think about. 

What dish did you cook?

'Bangers and Mash' homemade Cumberland Sausage, Sticky Braised Smoked Pancetta, Red Onion and Mustard Marmalade, Savoy Cabbage, Creamed Potatoes and a Smokey Red Wine Jus.

Reflecting on the day, what did you do well and what could you have done better?

On reflection, I was very happy with my choice of dish, glad that the judges appreciated the humble bangers and mash. I could have done a bit more in the 45 minutes, perhaps do a quick braise on the pancetta to show how I made that from start to finish and show off how to utilise the Essential Cuisine Chicken Stock Mix and the Veal Stock Mix products, by adding the pancetta it gave it a great smokey note. 

Have you entered many competitions before? Would you encourage your team to enter in the future?

I've never entered competitions before, so was great to come out with a great result. I found the competition atmosphere addictive and great to put all of your effort into one dish rather than juggling multiple things at work. I would 100% recommend my team to enter competitions in the future, the self confidence it gives you is great which I find is commonly lacking in younger chefs. 

I would like to take this opportunity to say thanks to the judges, Salon Culinaire and Essential Cuisine, was great to meet you on the day, it was a huge amount of fun and great to network with some great people.

Follow Samuel's journey on Instagram - @samuelseedhouse