On 29th May, NAAFI organised and funded a culinary competition, ‘Catering Heroes’, which was held in the Rheindahlen Rooms, JHQ.  Five teams from Paderborn, Hohne, Gutersloh, Rhine and Catterick Garrisons took part. There were five judges sampling the culinary creations; Paul Simpson from the NAAFI,  WO1 (SSM), Mike Walton from HQ ARRC, WO1 (SSM) Dave Asquith,  Divisional Catering Warrant Officer in HQ 1st (UK) Armoured division Herford, Mark Houghton from The British Culinary Federation, and TV Celebrity Chef, James Martin.  The event was open to the public and an impressive €6,000 was raised and split between two charities, Help for Heroes and The Army Benevolent Fund.

Before sitting down to eat, diners were allowed to observe the ‘war of the woks’, as the chefs battled it out in the make shift kitchens.  Each team prepared a starter, main course and dessert also serving appropriate wines, and these were sampled by the judges and marked accordingly.

As it turned out, the Catterick team did not have a wasted journey and were elected the winners for their mouth watering menu of Pan-fried Fillet of Pollack, served on a bed of linguine with clams, Bouillabaisse and sweet chilli dressing, followed by Pork loin, pressed belly pork and crackling with fondant potato, savoy cabbage with pureed celeriac and roasted vegetables and roast pork jus.  The dessert was spiced apple and pear muffin with fresh marmalade and Cranachan ice cream.

James Martin, from BBC’s ‘Saturday Kitchen’, announced the winner and was delighted to be presenting it to the Yorkshire team since he is from Malton himself.  He said ‘Everybody did fantastically well to cook under pressure like that.  As soon as the starter came out we knew we had found a potential winner, and the main course didn’t disappoint.  It wasn’t just one course that swung it, but all three.  ’.

The winning team were presented with a shield and will now take part in another competition, ‘Exercise Rhino Caterer’, which will be held in Germany next month.   Michael Pearson, from the winning team, said ‘It was really hot in there and very difficult conditions to work in.  We knew that we had a good menu and we just came up with the goods today.  We were a bit disadvantaged having to travel from the UK but we pulled it off and did well.’

It was a busy day for celebrity chef, James Martin, who spent the day at both Elmpt and JHQ doing cookery demonstrations and signing one of his popular recipe books for hundreds of eager fans.  He seemed to have enjoyed himself thoroughly and really seemed to warm to the force’s community – and they to him.  He particularly impressed everybody with his kind generosity as he announced at the end of the night that he was donating an additional €3,000 to the two charities, The Army Benevolent Fund and Help For Heroes.

NAAFI Communication’s Officer, Lee Coleman was delighted with the success of the competition and said that they hope that it will become an annual event.

Further Pictures are available in the Media & Comms Gallery

Words By Judith Wake
Photos By Sgt Simon Butcher RAF