Come Cook With Me At Ife09

Sponsored by Silver Hill Foods, The Skillery will be located between Food on the Move and Bakery in the South Hall and will host demonstrations from top chefs, focussing on ways to make your business more competitive and efficient in the economic downturn. Designed to attract chefs, restaurateurs, hoteliers, cost sector caterers and major foodservice operators and give them a seriously ‘up-close-and-personal’ insight into the latest developments in foodservice, the attraction will feature top names from across the industry in two concurrent programmes.

One kitchen will be hosted by the Craft Guild of Chefs and will feature a compelling demonstration programme carried out by well-renowned professional chefs. Based on research carried out by the Guild into current foodservice industry trends, the programme will focus on hot topics of most relevance to visitors and, to avoid the ‘Skillery’ from becoming ‘just another cooking demonstration’, the organisers have made it as innovation-led, targeted and relevant to the foodservice visitor demographic as possible.

The second kitchen, hosted by the event organisers, Fresh RM, will be dedicated to companies exhibiting, enabling visitors to see featured products brought to life. All of the prime cooking and refrigeration equipment is supplied by Enodis.

The line up includes Simon Hulstone, the chef at The Elephant Bar and Restaurant and Knorr National Chef of the Year, who will be sharing the secrets of his dishes that he competed with at the Bocuse d’Or in January 2009.
Brian Turner CBE will be taking a trip down memory lane by producing traditional, ‘home-cooked’ foods with a twist while Mathew Shropshall, Food Development Chef and Consultant, will be teaming up with Professor Simon Watt to put the traditional British dessert under the microscope to discover ways to recreate them cost effectively, to help fight the credit crunch.

Ben Bartlett, Britain’s Best BBQer, will be talking about how themed promotions can increase footfall and profits, focussing on how to do it innovatively and inexpensively in the current climate. Cyrus Todiwala, chef and proprietor of renowned Café Spice Namaste, will be exploring how to use economically-friendly cuts of meat to recreate Indian classics. Details of the packed schedule can be found at http://www.ife.co.uk/theskillery.

In addition to The Skillery, visitors can visit hundreds of stands featuring foodservice products, a large number of which have already signed-up promising new product launches. And with innovation the name of the game at this year’s show, naturally there is a lot of creativity to shout about.

The Craft Guild of Chefs is the largest UK chefs association with members worldwide in foodservice and hospitality, from students and trainees to top management working everywhere from Michelin starred restaurants to school catering divisions.

IFE09 will take place on 15-18 March 2009 at ExCeL in London. For further information about visiting, visit www.ife.co.uk.

THE SKILLERY TIMETABLE

Sunday, March 15
12.15-1pm Innovations in Grab ‘n’ Go foods
Ian Nottage, Chef Director, Leathams

1.30-2.15pm Traditional British desserts under the microscope
Matt Shropshall, food development chef and Professor Simon Watt

2.45-3.30pm Menu Promotions to increase your footfall
Ben Bartlett, Britain’s Best BBQer

Monday, March 16
11-11.45am Sous Vide – What’s good for the customer and good for you
Dr Sandra Stringer, Senior Research Scientist, Institute of Food Research and Svetlana Rodgers, Professor of Food, Hospitality and Culinary Arts, University of Brighton

12.15-1pm World-class aspirations
Simon Hulstone, chef/proprietor, The Elephant Bar & Restaurant and Knorr National Chef of the Year 2008

1.30-2.15pm Healthy Eating Ideas
Andy Aston, executive chef, Restaurant Associates

2.45-3.30pm Working with the farmer
Steve Munkley, executive chef, Royal Garden Hotel, London

3.50-4.35pm Utilising all cuts of meat in Indian cuisine
Cyrus Todiwala, chef/proprietor, Café Spice Namaste

Tuesday, March 17

11-11.45am Creating award winning individual style
Lee Cash, director, Peach Pub Company and Sam Cowley, head chef, The Almanack

12.15-1pm Credit crunch meals using sustainable fish
Nick Vadis, UK executive chef, Compass UK and Ireland, chairman Craft Guild of Chefs

1.30-2.15pm Rob’s Foodmap of Britain
Rob Kirby, chef director and chef, Lexington Catering

2.45-3.30pm Home-grown comfort
Angela Gray, TV chef, broadcaster and food writer

3.50-4.35pm 5 star food experiences using 5 senses!
John Feeney, culinary director, Griffiths Laboratories, The Food Architects

Wednesday, March

11-11.45am Hotpots, stews and cobblers… just like mum cooked!
Brian Turner, CBE, chef / restauranteur

12.15-1pm Managing food intolerances and allergies in a corporate environment
Chris Basten, executive chef, Marriott County Hall, London

1.30-2.15pm Feeding the troops on a budget
Rob Kennedy, executive chef, Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst

2.45-3.30pm Feeding kids and meeting nutritional standards
Matt Owens, Zuidman and Bob Brown, Sodexo