What’s Cooking? Behind the Scenes with Chef of the Year Contestant, Steve Roberts.

Steve Roberts, Head Chef at Eckington Court Care Home in Derbyshire, came a close second in Orchard Care Home’s Chef of the Year competition recently, in a heated grand finale which took place at the head office of Unilever Food Solutions, in Surrey. Steve spent twelve years in the Army as part of the catering corps, providing meals and subsistence for the mighty hungry soldiers on exercise and operations around the world. A classically trained chef, Steve first entered the Prison Service on his departure from the Armed Forces, before moving across to the Care Sector. Steve has been working at Eckington Court since March 2016, and works hard to create menus and dishes that please the variety of tastes of his residents, whilst regularly organising taster sessions to bring in new flavours and meals. Steve played an important role in Eckington Court’s Centre of Culinary Excellence accolade, one of the first homes in the Orchard Group to gain this. He is committed to using fresh and seasonal ingredients in his cooking, and there’s always a dash of good humour to accompany them. The seven finalists of the Orchard Care Homes competition prepared and presented a two-course menu in a timed and controlled environment to a panel of judges. Steve presented a salmon mousse with a timbale of rice, spinach and a fennel puree, followed by apple crumble tart with homemade ice cream and toffee sauce. All ingredients needed to be readily available to the home and the dish was to fall within the home’s normal catering budget. Judges were impressed by the high standard and quality of Steve’s dish.  Dianne Lilley, Food and Beverage Manager at Orchard care Homes commented, “Steve’s menu displayed a range of technical ability and the flavours and presentation were excellent. His apple pie was a particular favourite amongst the judges.” “This has been a great experience, I’ve really enjoyed the event. The level has been high, but I’m really pleased with the outcome and it’s great to have been part of the first year of the competition. I’ll be entering next year and striving for the win.”