Rachel Green
Sponsored by Oleifera
Rachel is the renowned champion of British and seasonal produce, who can be found judging The British Pie Awards, demonstrating wild boar on Market Kitchen, cooking alongside Alan Titchmarsh at the Chatsworth Country Fair, hosting the first-ever Leicester Food Festival and promoting her latest book, Sausages:making the most of the Great British Sausage. Rachel, current holder of the CLA Award for Outstanding Achievement and Contribution to British Food, comes from 14 generations of Lincolnshire farmers, is renowned for her lively and instructive demonstrations. "I always aim to entertain and teach at the same time, " she says. "My recipes are a guideline, and there to take the fear out of cooking, especially with game."
Alan Coxon
As one of the most respected chefs in the industry, Alan brings unrivalled passion and knowledge of food and its history. Known as the Food Archaeologist, his depth of knowledge about the origins of ingredients has seen him cooking with, and for, some of the most famous people in the world. He has been featured on TV screens and in print around the globe and his devotion and charisma saw him positioned amongst the top 10 favourite TV chefs in the world in a BBC viewer poll. Alan started his culinary career in Monte Carlo, and went on to work in Michelin starred restaurants across Europe, before opening his own restaurant on the Isle of Man. He then returned to France after being personally asked to organise and open the largest 4 star hotel in Europe based in Paris, where he led an international culinary brigade of over 60 chefs. Alan’s success within the kitchen has seen him become a household name, regularly appearing on TV around the globe; with programmes such as BBC2’s `Ever Wondered About Food’, ‘Coxon’s Royal Feast’ and ‘Coxon’s Kitchen College’, and weekly appearances on shows such as Open House with Gloria Hunniford , and UK Foods “Great Food Live” to name but a few. Alan is a regular on both National and Regional Radio and writes for numerous UK Magazines as a Food and Travel writer. Most recently, Alan has featured on prime time TV and Radio shows including BBC Breakfast News and GMTV as part of national campaign for the potato council. Alan is a member of the Academy of Culinary Arts, Master Chef of Great Britain, Holder of the Palms Culinaire, member of the International Writers Travel Alliance, member of the Guild of food writers, member of the Association Culinaire Francais, and HCIMA, as well as the winner of 5 Gold Medals at International Salon Culinaires for fat sculpture.
Michael Moore
Michael, the chef and proprietor at Michael Moore of Blandford Street restaurant in London has every right to call his food 'modern global'. His influences come from culinary experiences acquired from Canada, the Far East, Europe and the Caribbean. The English-born chef's creations are influenced by the diversity of ingredients and national tastes that surrounded him in each continent that he visited. "My food is an amalgamation of the experiences and tastes I have acquired from my work abroad", he says. "I've always used the local ingredients of the country I was working in - it's your survival kit." This combination of wide-ranging ingredients and national tastes makes Michael's dishes unique in character and flavour and sets him apart from his peers. His first big break in the kitchen was as a chef de partie/sous chef at the Savoy, Strand, under the watchful eye of Anton Edelmann. Following his time at the Savoy, Michael took up his first position abroad, at the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten in Hamburg, Germany, before venturing into Switzerland and Canada. Michael came back to Britain, for the pre-opening of the Dorchester. After three years at the Dorchester, Michael became executive chef at the luxury Island Inn Hotel resort in St Michael, Barbados, before moving onto the exclusive Soneva Fushi resort in the Maldives, via Berlin's Intercontinental Hotel. He was lured away to oversee the opening of the Circle Bar and Restaurant in London's fashionable Docklands before taking residence as executive group chef for Simpsons of Cornhill, where he was in charge of 14 restaurants including 190 Queensgate in Knightsbridge. Michael made his UK TV debut live on Gloria Hunniford's Open House on Channel 5. He lives in north-west London with his wife and two children.
Jose L Souto
Jose studied at Westminster Kingsway College where he met the man that introduced him to game, Michael Hollingsworth Chef Lecturer and Head of Culinary Arts. After leaving the college and doing a stint abroad Jose worked as a Chef at the House of Commons for over 11 years. During his time at the Commons he also work at some of the top establishments in London while on working sabbaticals these included: Intercontinental Park Lane, Mossimon’s, The Ritz London and the Savoy Grill. Not long after this Jose took up a lecturing post at Westminster as a Chef Lecturer in Culinary Arts. Since then he has become one of the leading game chefs in the UK with knowledge of not only how to cook game but also about its harvest and preparation. Jose is a Master member of the Craft Guild of Chefs and writes articles for its magazine, The Stockpot. He has also written and appeared in many publications including :The Shooting Gazette, Countryman’s weekly, The Caterer, The Shooting Times, Pub Chef, Eat out, the Stock Pot and Cost Sector Catering. Most recently Jose has become the Celebrity Chef expert for Horse and Country TV all his articles and some of his TV work can be seen on www.horseandcountry.tv/celebrity/jose-l-souto
Jose is currently working on a GAME book like no other with renowned Food Photograph Steve Lee. Jose is a keen countryman living in Cambridgeshire with his wife Charlotte and their son Luis. He practices most country sports, Falconry and Stalking being the ones he loves most.
Marie Taylor
Marie Taylor is passionate about using, cooking and understanding the value of locally grown and harvested food. Marie took to the hunter gatherer philosophy at the earliest age with her father, a gamekeeper. Qualifying as a chef at Broadstairs Catering collage many years ago she has continued to work in the food industry, and is currently putting her skills to good use helping the next generation of chefs at her local catering college. Marie’s greatest love is cooking and presenting delicious meals made from the produce of the countryside, making the simplest meal a feast for the senses. She has that engaging innate ability to enthuse others to look again at the provenance of their food in this rather indifferent fast food age. Simon Whitehead, local warrener and friend is a seasoned exponent of ferreting and rabbit control and she has completely opened his eyes to the value this delicious meat offers.
Dean Cole
Head chef tutor of Eckington Manor Cookery School joined them in 2009 after working in some of the best restaurants the world over. Having trained at Birmingham College of Food, Dean moved to London to work under Michelin-starred Michel Bourdin at The Connaught. He then headed to Sharrow Bay in the Lake District, also spending time in Canada before coming back to the UK as head chef at award winning Bank Restaurant and then chef director at Opus Restaurant.
