We recently ran an internal competition across Nellsar to celebrate and showcase the amazing food our talented Chefs and Kitchen Teams create for our residents every day, and four of our Princess Christian Care Home Chefs were prize winners with their impressive entries.
Princess Christian Chef winners
Winning in the ‘Regular Food Category‘, Head Chef Cosmin Cristea produced some delicious chicken and vegetable skewers, whilst Chef Assistant Paul Fazecas created a stunning plate of steak and vegetables.
Chef Cristian Pitic and Chef Assistant Eduard Sarmasag won the ‘Puréed Moulded Food Category‘ for their amazing moulded burger, chips and corn on the cob.
The entries were judged by Celebrity Chef Sid Shanti, who is famous for his unique, easy-to-follow recipes, all inspired by his experiences both as an international touring DJ and his fifteen years spent living on Ibiza.
Sid took time to review all the entries and was impressed by the incredible effort made by all our Chefs to showcase their work.
Cookery demonstration and prize-giving
As part of their prize, our four Chefs were invited to attend a cookery demonstration and prize-giving presentation with Sid Shanti on Monday 1 November at Princess Christian. Also in attendance were Chef Katie Scoones and Head Chef Lynn Clemons from Woodstock Residential Care Home who were also competition winners.
Sid prepared and cooked two delicious dishes in the Princess Christian kitchen;
Wild mushroom risotto with rocket leaves and confit cherry tomato
and
Pan fried fillet of sea bass with wilted spinach, confit cherry tomato, potato rosti and lemon butter sauce
Throughout the demonstration Sid gave tips and answered questions about the ingredients and flavours. The completed dishes were plated for everyone to taste; packed with flavours, they went down a treat!
Our Chefs were truly inspired by Sid’s ideas and received signed copies of his latest book, plus some of his sauces to try in their own cooking.
Cosmin, Paul, Christian and Eduard also received winner’s certificates, trophies and engraved knives as part of their prize.
Feeling inspired
Commenting on the success of the day Cosmin said;
“It was such an exciting day, knowing that the awards were taking place and our team here at Princess Christian had won first places! I was so happy knowing that I worked with our residents as part of the competition and we won it together. Meeting and taking part in Sid’s cooking demonstration was an honour for me. Knowing that he started his career in the same way as us and developed so much – having his own book and sauces – is inspiring. It makes me believe and dream that one day I will follow in the same steps. It was a great competition where Chefs from around Nellsar could prove their knowledge and skills. We want to thank our management for these beautiful awards and this amazing day. We look forward to the next competition!”
Cristian said how he’d enjoyed the competition;
“I enjoyed the competition very much as I am a very competitive person! I am very happy with the award I received and I’m sure the competition will motivate our staff and bring us together for the best results. I am ready for new competitions in the future!”
Paul enjoyed the demonstration, saying;
“I enjoyed the cooking demonstration very much. It was nice seeing a popular Chef for the first time cooking in front of us. I’m very proud with my achievement and I hope in the future to be able to participate again.”
Eduard enjoyed the day;
“I was very impressed with the event, the awards and cooking demonstration. It’s the first time we’ve done this and I feel really motivated. I’m looking forward to future competitions – and hopefully more Chefs coming to teach us new tricks!”
Congratulations to our Chefs on a well-deserved win and thank you to Sid for his excellent demonstration at our Home. A delicious day to remember!
For further inspiration, visit Sid’s website at sidshanti.com.
