Rose Greene tells the academy about being young chef of the year 2009

             

I caught up with Rose Greene, our wonderful Young Chef of the year 2009.  Rose’s bubbly strong Irish accent bounced over the phone on her break at Le Champignon Sauvage as we discussed the competition, her passions and the future.  Here’s what she had to say….

Natalie: So how’s it all been since the competition?

Rose: Amazing, it has been such a buzz winning the competition.  I actually handed in my notice yesterday though…

Natalie: Really, why?

Rose:  Well it has been non stop since I left college as a chef and after our 2 week break over Christmas I won’t be coming back.  I want to take a couple of months off to work around the country and do some research in where I would like to be placed next.

Natalie:  It all sounds very exciting; will you be visiting any places in particular?

Rose:  I want to go to Scotland and generally around the country to some restaurants.  I’ll be back in Ireland for a while and I am going to Italy for 3 day culinary cuisine programme.

Natalie: Sounds amazing.  I feel that I have sidetracked slightly and delved into your personal plans, so I will get back to the questions now!

So you came 2^nd in the competition last year, did you re-enter straight away?

Rose:  No, it all happened quite suddenly.  One of the guys from ours got through and but he left as he got a job and so I got pushed to go through again.  It was a lot of hard work but its fun and I’m glad I went back again.

Natalie:  How did you feel going back through the heats again?

Rose:  They were held at Darlington again, so I was in familiar surroundings and I knew what to expect this time round.  I also knew what the judges were looking for more and so I tried to not overcomplicate things.

The day basically involved a paper to begin, which was multiple choice.  This was followed by 20 minutes to decide what 2 main dishes we would prepare with a rack of lamb.  We then did some skills which included pancakes with compote with sugar and cream.  There was also a warm trout salad, which had to be perfectly cooked and the right temperature.

Natalie:  Did you work with a commis in this round?

Rose:  We did have a commis but they were only allowed to fetch us ingredients, they weren’t allowed to prep.  You just have to think logically and focus, especially if you are working in a different kitchen.

Natalie:  What was the final day like?

Rose:  Well I tried to work on the feedback I got from last year, like I didn’t use my commis enough.  So this year I had planned the commis jobs before thinking of anything else, this allowed me to focus on the main ingredients whilst he did the prep.  I really learnt to take control and delegate tasks, as apposed to doing it all.

Natalie:  They say you are given a basket of ingredients on the day, did you know what was in there before?

Rose:  Last year we knew.  But this year we were just given the proteins the day before which were, red mullet and chorizo to start and then lamb and sweetbreads for main.  The day of the final we were given the vegetables and garnish with two A4 pages of ingredients we could use.

Natalie:  Did you have ideas of what to cook with your proteins before getting there?

Rose:  Yes, but I had a few so when some of the ingredients weren’t there I didn’t freak out.  You don’t want to over think it too much.  I preferred it this way as you couldn’t over think the food too much!

Natalie:  You were all paired up with a waiter, did you work together much?

Rose:  I was so lucky because I was actually paired with a friend Daniel from Scotland who I have previously worked with.  This made it so much more comfortable for both of us and really eased the nerves.  We worked with our waiters for about 15 minutes discussing the wine and menu. 

Natalie:  Is it hard working in a totally different kitchen than you are used to?

Rose:  Because the final was here last year it wasn’t too bad.  I was chef A last year and again this year so I had the same section, which gave me a lot of space and my own sink, zone, oven and electric oven.  So we were pretty kitted out.

Natalie:  How did you prepare for the competition?

Rose:  Well head chef of Le Champignon Sauvage, David, has had previous winners in the competition and he knows what the judges are looking for.  He did refresher skills training, like making a béarnaise sauce, its stuff you learn at college but you may not have made it in a few years.  We normally get our fish filleted but chef made us order it in whole and fillet it.

On my day off I would go to the local butchers every Monday for about 6 weeks prior to the competition.  We would work with whole animals.  It has really developed my knowledge in handling meat.  I also read lots of books to get ideas for flavours.

Natalie:  Were you worried about any particular area of preparation?

Rose:  I’m not the best pastry chef so I ran the pastry section at work and on a Friday before service David would give us a mystery basket to make a pastry dish from.

This time round I planned to make a dessert using the same mix to gain three components to the dish.

Natalie:  Do you cook much at home?

Rose: No we generally go out as most people go home on our days off so the rest of us go out for dinner; it’s nice to have a break and to get new ideas.

Natalie:  So what would you say your highlight of the competition this year?

Rose:  Meeting everyone and seeing two waiters from last year, it’s nice to catch up with everyone.

Natalie:  As well as the competition prize Michael Winner also gave you an extra £1,000 what are you planning to do with the money?

Rose:  I know it was so nice of him.  Well it’s just allowing me to take a couple of months off to decide where I want to go next.  It will help pay for my trip to Italy too.  I’m also looking to challenge and develop all of the time.  I did a semester on wine at college but I really want to develop my knowledge on cheese and wine.

Natalie:  Any more competitions planned for next year?  WorldSkills perhaps?

Rose:  I’m not too sure right now, but I will definitely look into worldSkills now you mention it!

It was so nice to speak to Rose who is only 23 and has accomplished so much already in her career as a chef.  I have no doubt that she will go far in the industry.  You never know, Miss Greene may be destined for WorldSkills?