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Rome, Friday, December 2, 2005, 8 p.m. – The attendees slowly filed into the “Sala Rotunda” – decorated with Christmas cheer – at the five-star hotel “Intercontinental De La Ville”. The winners of the “GME Cookery Award 2005” and their companions were arriving one by one to mark the beginning of their weekend stay in the Eternal City with a welcoming kick-off toast.
Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Holland, Great Britain and Spain. Throughout the year the Gelatine Manufacturers of Europe (GME), together with renowned representatives of the media, had sought out the best gelatine cooks in these seven countries. In keeping with the first two annual events in Paris and Madrid, this year’s award ceremony in Rome was also a weekend of culinary and cultural highlights.
And again this year the national jury was faced with the difficult task of selecting the best gelatine chefs from among the many outstanding hobby cooks who had submitted recipes.
Their final selection of the best recipe creator from each country:
Belgium:
Claudia Stoops, strawberry and banana fruit croquettes with almonds and biscuits in a red fruit and cassis jelly
Germany:
Thekla Schmailzl, cunning zebra gateau
France:
Martine Aggery, brousse terrine with pesto
Italy:
Roberto Gracci, herbal ricotta custard, scampi and green tomato gel
Holland:
Liesbeth Wijnvoord, Liesbeth’s ginger pudding with honey and lavender
Spain:
Oscar Bienzobas López, monkfish and octopus roll with mousse of little sweet pepper
Great Britain:
Helen Clark, heaven scent strawberry dream
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GME Award 2005 |
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The best recipes of the GME Cookery Award
To the recipes
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With so many talented hobby chefs in attendance, it is no wonder that the participants were so eager to swap recipes at their first dinner together. But this evening it was the participants themselves who were treated to an exquisite five-course meal as a prelude to putting on their own aprons on the following day.
Creative tips from a professional chef
On Saturday morning Antonio Sciullo, the famed Italian chef, invited the participants to his own cooking school “A Tavola con lo Chef” for an exclusive course in cooking. Following a brief introduction the cooks got down to business: chopping, simmering, baking and applying decorations with loving care.
Under the watchful eye of Chef Antonio the hobby cooks quickly and easily turned out innovative gelatine creations that were a pleasure to both the palate and the eye.
Europe’s cooks of the year
The fact that the participants all have what it takes to be professional cooks was evident not only during the cooking course but from the outstanding recipes that they had submitted. But before the participants were given an opportunity to sample the dishes that they had just created, it was time for their outstanding performance to be recognised . GME President Patrick Goossens and Italian GME representative Luciano Testa presented the winners with the “GME Cookery Award 2005”.
“The creative recipes dreamed up by the participants again exceeded our expectations,” said a very pleased Patrick Goossens. “The many different gelatine creations from seven European countries demonstrate how versatile natural gelatine is.”
Farewell dinner in an historical setting
Following the award ceremony participants were treated to an exquisite meal personally served by Antonio Sciullo as well as a sightseeing tour through the impressive historic Italian capital. The event finale transported participants back in time to ancient Rome where they partook of Italian specialties to the musical accompaniment of Synaulia whose instruments are identical to those once played in times long past. Gladiators and mimes provided exciting entertainment between meal courses. Midnight came all too quickly. It was now time for participants to leave the historic backdrop of the Via Appia Antica and return to the hotel.
Saying goodbye to the fascinating city was no easy task on the following sunny Sunday. Many tossed coins into Trevi fountain, thereby ensuring that they will some day return to Rome.
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