submarine commanders kitchen nightmare...

What happens when a building society executive goes head to head with a nuclear submarine commander in the kitchen? The answer - over £6000 raised for charity. The Waterhead Hotel at Ambleside, one of the English Lakes Hotels, earlier this month hosted a challenge between two "chefs", both of whom, up until now, have done very little cooking. They had to deliver a three course meal for 80 high profile guests, who also acted as judge and jury on each menu. Fortunately for the invited partygoers supervision was provided by two professionals, notably Lee Jeynes - ELH's executive chef and Captain of the Welsh National culinary team and also Micheal Weston-Cole, head chef at the Waterhead. Commander Mike Walliker (OBE), more used to the confined quarters of "The Astute" nuclear submarine currently undergoing commissioning at Barrow, was teamed up with Michael from the Waterhead. John Leveson, deputy chief executive of the Cumberland building society was teamed up with Lee Jeynes. Each team in turn had the Waterhead's normal brigade to support them.

The 80 diners got to choose the menu they preferred, watch their meals being prepared on TV monitors and rate them on a scale from 1-5. At the end of the evening the team with the most points won. The results were very close, with only 30 votes difference. Mike Walliker cooked a typically Cumbrian menu with Slacks Farm Cumberland Sausage Toad in the Hole as a starter. This was followed by Thornby Moor Goats Cheese and Basil Leaf Gnocchi, accompanied by sun-ripened tomato Provencal. For the main course Mike prepared Pan-fried Cumbrian Breast of Chicken served with sautéed potatoes. For dessert he made ‘A Taste of Cumbria.' This was a range of individual local dishes including Sticky Toffee Pudding Parfait, Sarah Nelson's Gingerbread and Poached Rhubarb Fool and Kendal Mint Cake ice cream.

John Leveson won the competition with his contemporary themed three course meal. His perfectly cooked scallops drew praise from Steven Doherty, who announced the results, himself a Michelin starred chef. To start John served a Warm Seafood Terrine wrapped in Cartmel Valley Oak-Smoked Salmon with pan-seared scallops and sauce vierge. This was followed by Jerusalem Artichoke Soup. The main course was Slow-Braised Belly of Pork with Apple and Sage and a roast pork fillet with an onion crumble. For dessert John made Warm Chocolate and Whisky Cake with crunchy hazelnut ice cream and chocolate sauce.

John said "This was a tremendous experience for me and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. It is so totally different to my real job at the Cumberland and I now have nothing but admiration for chefs and kitchen staff everywhere who work extremely hard and under great pressure. I was obviously delighted to win the event, against stiff competition from Mike Walliker and his team, but this was entirely due to the expertise of chef Lee Jeynes and his brigade, who chose the menu and taught me a great deal in the kitchen. This experience may well inspire me to do more cooking at home and move on from baked beans and cheese on toast."

The evening was great success and a whole heap of fun for all those that took part. For more events taking place at the Bay Restaurant visit www.elh.co.uk.

Content and photography supplied by www.Artisan-Food.com, funded by Distinctly Cumbrian.