Dunboyne chefs national award
Dunboyne man David Fountain was named Chef of the Year for 2015 at the Sodexo Salon Culinaire, the annual culinary competition run by services company Sodexo Ireland for its 2,000 staff working in 200 site locations throughout Ireland. For the competition, David and the other contestants had to prepare, cook and present a three course meal against the clock. David’s dishes were a pan-seared hake with pea, picked girolles, seafood foam and langoustines, followed by an assiette of guinea fowl, hay smoked breast, ballotine and lollipop leg with heritage vegetables, apple puree and jus and a dessert of flourless chocolate tart with a lime ice-cream, banana and chilli syrup, banana and walnut praline.
David will now represent Ireland in the Grand Final at Hotelympia in March 2016, the UK’s biggest hospitality and foodservice event, where he will face the winning Sodexo chefs from England, Scotland and Wales. David said, “My first part-time job as a kitchen porter at the age of 14 introduced me to a professional kitchen and from then on, my curiosity and love of food gave me the push to pursue the career that I have and love today. I’ve competed for the past two years and I was so delighted and proud to win this year. I can't wait for the final as it's going to be an amazing experience to compete with chefs of such a high calibre and on a world class stage as Hotelympia.”
The judges were enormously impressed by David’s innovative use of ingredients and lightness of touch. They commented on how ‘the flavours married well together and the complexity of cooking took a high level of skill to execute. The use of earthy beets and smoked guinea fowl was offset with the sweetness of the jus and was the highlight of his menu’.
Margot Slattery, country president, Sodexo Ireland, also took part and won a bronze medal in the Cake Baking category. “Congratulations to David on his well-deserved win. As a former professional chef, I know the level of commitment, skill, practice and nerve necessary to perform well at these competitions. To use a rugby analogy, the Grand final next March will be our equivalent of the Six Nations Championship and so we wish David the best of luck!”
Sodexo Ireland, part of the global Sodexo Group the world’s largest services company, delivers services that improve the quality of life to clients in business and industry, education, financial and healthcare. It employs approximately 2,000 staff in 200 locations across Ireland, serves 90,000 people daily and spends almost €19 million annually on local Irish food.