Chefs Corner

Chef Innovations from Paris – by chef Steve Walpole

BY Steve Walpole

Everyone is gearing up for Christmas and picking up new ideas. SIAL is a food exhibition in Paris and takes place every two years. They call it ‘the world’s largest food innovation marketplace’. This year was particularly good because it was the 50^th anniversary. It’s a great show to go to broaden your understanding of the international market.

I took part in a tv programme called ‘Haute Cuisine for all’ – talking about how now food has become more of a focal point. You can see the show on YouTube here.

There are lot more restaurants and people are caring about ingredients and this is relaying more into the chains and airlines – top cuisine used to be what certain people could afford and certain people went to.

Now supermarkets have their own premium ranges. People like Heston and Jamie are doing ranges for the common person, rather than the restaurants.

Here are some of the top ideas and products I picked up at the show:

Ten Acre Farm

This is a lovely British company. They make crisps and popcorn. It’s all MSG and allergen free and kosher. They have really thought about their product – making it with clean deck ingredients.

Flavours of their pop corn include wasabi and lime and sea salt. Flavours of crisps include ‘When Bombay Got Spicy’ and ‘The Day Sweet And Sour Became Friends’.

www.tenacrecrisps.co.uk

Moka Instinct

My favorite highlight for the Italians was a fizzy coffee drink using a range of coffees from Venezuela and Costa Rica. It was like a sweet fizzy espresso shot – it had less sugar than normal stuff – the equivalent café of a third of an espresso.

www.mokainstinct.com

Pelagonia

Phil Evans runs a company in Macedonia. They make lovely products and are now trying to hit the UK market. He offers dried girolles, chanterelles, ceps, trompette. And something called ‘ajvar’, and red pepper relish. It’s almost like a thick passata. I’m trying to do a lot with it – something different than the standard dips everyone expects. There’s a spicy and normal version. It’s very Mediterranean.

www.pelagonia.co.uk

Balance Stevia Chocolate

As an ingredient and sugar replacement, this is making a huge statement everywhere. I love this chocolate. It’s good for diabetics.

Steven Walpole is a leading chef and food consultant, working with a wide range of clients developing menus, recipes and other products. See www.stevewalpoleltd.com for more detail. ____________________________________________________________ Steve's CV includes stints at some of London’s best eating establishments including Browns Hotel, Home House, City Rhodes, Quaglinos, The Four Seasons, The Lanesborough, The Intercontinental, Le Champenois, Lloyds of London, The Boulestein and the Waterside Restaurant at Bray. He has been a finalist and medal winner in countless competitions including UK Parade de Chefs Olympia, Toque d’Or, Roux brother’s scholarship, Nestle Grand Prix Masterclass, Academy of Culinary Arts. Born in Essex, Steven has been passionate about cooking since he started a Saturday job in a local restaurant at the age of 15 – a whole host of college qualifications, diplomas and awards followed in rapid succession and he became a full time lecturer at the famed Westminster College in London. In 2000 Steven was the highest performing candidate in the Kitchen category at the Academy of Culinary Arts Awards and in 2003 came second at the grand final in one of the most prestigious competitions on the competition circuit – the Roux Scholarship Finals making him the youngest ever lecturer to do so. He is considered to be one of the finest young chefs in the country. Having co-presented a 10 part television series (Kids Fit Squad) with Jane Wake (fitness guru Celebrity Fit Club) for Discovery Health, Steven appeared at The Vitality Show and also at The Homes Show at Excel in London. Steven also lectures on childhood obesity, and healthy eating for children is a subject that he is passionate about. He ran a Junior Chefs Academy for children at Westminster College and held nationwide workshops teaching children how to cook. He is chef consultant to the charity HOPE (www.hopeuk.info) producing healthy recipes and inspiring children and adults to get into a healthy eating scheme and well balanced diet and worked recently with Weight Watchers UK. He is a member of the Academy of Culinary Arts. Steven has appeared at food festivals worldwide including Karachi, Pakistan and the Gourmet Food Festival in Johanesburg and Capetown, South Africa and he is part of www.celebritychefsuk.com. Looking good is equally as important and Steven regularly trains in a gym; his other interests include extreme sports and he recently participated in a parachute jump for charity – an experience he can’t wait to repeat!

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