Events and Activities Round Up

Past Master Peter Messent Visits Lakefield

Peter visited the College in January to meet six new students supported by the Cooks’. He spoke to all of the new intake who were busy in the kitchen preparing a meal or helping set up in the dining room. They were all enjoying their training and it was a privilege to see how they were progressing. Despite being novice students, they were preparing to take part in a cooking competition at the Hotel, Restaurant and Catering show which was held in March.

Plaque Unveiling at Treloar’s

In March this year, the Worshipful Company of Cooks’ support of Treloar’s was formally recognized with the unveiling of a plaque. The Master Cook Revd Keith Powell attended in the company of Lady Mayoress of the City of London and several Past Masters.

Tee Off

On 11 April, a small but perfectly formed team of Cooks golfers – Past Masters Bob Grainger, Michael Messent and David Smith and Freeman Nigel Savage – gathered at the magnificent Hankley Common golf course to compete with the Worshipful Company of Girdlers for the Pickwick Cup. This was only the fifth occasion on which the match has been contested in over 90 years since the Cup was first presented by Cooks Past Master Herbert Bishop. The Cup holders, the Girdlers, played host, and while the Cooks put in a creditable performance, one of the Girdlers, (an ex-Irish Guardsman!) proved to be a bit of a bandit and so gave the Girdlers an unassailable score using the Stableford system. However, the Cooks triumphed with both the longest drive and “nearest the pin” prizes but more work needed to try and regain the trophy, which has been in the Girdler’s hands since 2013.

A little later the same week, Past Master Peter Messent hosted the Livery Past Masters’ Golf Day at Ipswich Golf Club. An even smaller team of Cooks participated this time but were richly rewarded with a beautiful day and a fabulous course in outstanding condition. The winner has the privilege of hosting the following year’s event, which probably accounted for the underperformance of the Cooks on the day!

Worshipful Company of Cooks support City Food Symposium

Bob Grainger attended this year’s City Food Policy Symposium, sponsored by the Worshipful Company of Cooks, entitled ‘From trade-offs to co-benefits in times of crisis: finding positive food policy solutions to multiple food system challenges’ was a sell-out and was the first in-person event in four years.

The keynote presentation from Rob Percival of the Soil Association perfectly set the agenda for the day’s discussions, and an address by Daniel Zeichner MP and Shadow Minister for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs rounded off the morning’s plenary panel. Insights were gained from the experiences of national, regional, and local experts on food policy trade-offs and co-benefits, and panellists explored how to achieve equality in times of multiple overlapping crises.

At the afternoon workshops, delegates together with experts explored a wide range of subjects to craft actionable policy solutions addressing issues from food sovereignty to land management. A summary report, containing highlights and recommendations from Symposium will be published later this year.

Packed Guildhall for 2023 City Food and Drink Lecture

A packed Guildhall was the venue for this year’s City Food & Drink Lecture in May, “Shifting Challenges in building a just, healthy and sustainable food and drink system” delivered by Keynote speaker Sir Charles Godfray from Oxford University.

Sir Charles explored some of the major challenges and opportunities for the food industries over the next few decades, covering an array of complex issues affecting farming, food production, health, Government policies as well as the effects of geopolitical ructions which are encouraging a retreat from ‘globalisation’.

The star of the discussion panel was the farmer Wilfred Immanuel-Jones, founder of ‘The Black Farmer Brand’. Wilfred’s common-sense approach to the topic earned him a much-deserved round of applause. But it was Her Royal Highness, Princess Anne, who stole the show with a brilliant, witty, if sometimes pithy resume of the evening’s contributions, before enjoying supper with the attendees.

The Cooks were there in force, led by the Master and they are already looking forward to the 2024 lecture which will be held on the 11 March.

From Zero to Hero

The annual Inter Livery Clay Shoot, held in May at the West London Shooting School, welcomed teams from across London’s Livery companies and raised thousands of pounds for a range of charities. There were more than 500 entrants from over 70 Livery Companies, with exciting shooting challenges across all levels, over two days. The Cooks Company entered two teams – including The Master Rev Keith Powell, James Powell, Mark Herbage, Simon Fooks, Past Master David Smith, John Bennett, Charlotte Kenyen and Paul Budd – with much rivalry between them!

There was much speculation about who would win the Cooks’ Clay Preservation Trophy presented by the Master and Father of the Company Rev Keith Powell in 2020. Past Master David Smith had shown amazing restraint last year in hitting the least number of clays and what a turn around this year in rising to the top with the best individual score of our two teams. Great skill was shown by Simon Fooks in emulating David Smith’s heroic example from last year and was the worthy winner of this year’s Cooks Clay Preservation Trophy.

Cooks support LACA School Chef of the Year

The aim of this competition is to find the UK’s best school chef in 2023, and the 12 area finalists participate in a Cook off with four heats over two days. The finalists are challenged to prepare, cook and present four portions of a main course and dessert with a total of £1.60 per head, in just 90 minutes, meeting School Food Standard Guidelines.

The winner was Raheem Morgan, Unit Manager and Head Chef of Torridon Primary School in Lewisham, who received £1000 cash prize, a trophy, and an invitation to a calendar of catering industry events. He cooked an Asian crispy fishcake with edamame bean and miso puree, served with a wasabi mayonnaise and crispy garnish. His dessert was a deconstructed lemon cheesecake with apple and basil gel, apple crisp, cherry compote, and egg white meringue.

This is the first time the Cooks have sponsored this Competition and Past Master Marcus Appleton was one of the four judges, having attended a judges’ training session the day before the event.

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