So this month saw Kevin McCloud's Grand Designs Live return to ExCel and I was there holding it down on the Celeb Chef Theatre with some of the capitals culinary bad boys.  We had Simon Gregory, Gordon Ramsey's Group Exec Chef, doing something simple and gorgeous with Stone Bass.  The lovely Atul Kochhar gave a spice lock down with an awesome soft crab number.  Frederick Forster, 2011's chef of the year, had a clearly distinctive style and is clearly a real talent for the future.  Markus Bohr, Harrods Exec Pastry chef, did a really clever and simple blue berry and thyme trifle which I loved and I hung out with my those two naughty boys Mark Lloyd and Nigel Smith, Miele's Exec Chefs. 

I had a great time as usual watching and learning from the countries top chefs.  The highlight for me was Kevin Love, from Hestons Hinds Head, his demo blew my mind.  I can tend to be a bit dismissive of Michelin stared perfectionists as I feel the true spirit of cooking can be lost a little under all that chefie nonsense.  But when Kevin came on and conducted his lesson in culinary engineering, well, everything in my 25 years in the business was turned on its head.

He informed me of numerous common practices, everything they buy in gets brined, 36 hours to make the perfect stock, 4 days to prepare their belly pork…..i mean OMG, these guys are nuts.  On the day, he showed me how to make the perfect fish stock.  He only used mussels, the initial stock was poured over a bouquet of beautiful herbs and infused for exactly 10 minutes and at that point he referred to the best stock I’d ever tasted as dirty.  As I looked on open mouthed he told me that now the stock needed to be ice filtered.  I asked him if he ever just had baked bean on toast, one of my standard questions for Michelin stared chefs.  Most of them answer with a yes but adding “with a little twist”.  Of course they have their reputations to uphold.  Kevin on the other had just looked at me dead pan and said ”no”.  I was like, “right ok chefrie”.  Then he got out the fridge the finished, ice filtered fish stock and I couldn’t believe my eyes.  This stuff glowed, it resembled more a fine wine or liquor than a fish stock.  Once heated up I tried it and basically I creamed my pants.  Sorry there it is, but it’s the truth.  This stuff was the “Mack Daddy” of the fish stock world and I was dumb founded.  I mean I was speechless, well apart from the marriage proposal I uttered to Kevin to bring the demo to an end.

Heston is the Rude Boy and Kevin is holding it down in the area, cant wait to get meself down to the Hinds Head.  Unbelievable food and a great time, see you next year.