From competition kitchen to corporate events: The craft behind GEC’s menus

A busy competition kitchen is just the place to see what chefs are made of. For GEC chefs Giacomo Ferrara and Ben Chisholm, that meant stepping into the Association of Catering Excellence (ACE) Ready, Steady, Cook competition and putting their cooking, teamwork and time management to the test.

With the clock running, there was no time to overthink things. The pair had to work together, make quick decisions and get their dishes on the plate. Their menu included pan-seared duck breast with duck thigh and lentil ragout, celeriac purée, celeriac fondant, fig sauce and pickled radish, followed by a cassis-soaked brownie trifle.

It was a chance for Giacomo and Ben to show what they can do as chefs, but it also gives a glimpse into the thinking and skill that goes into the food GEC serves at corporate events.

The chefs behind the food

Cooking in a competition is very different from preparing food for a corporate event, but there are plenty of similarities. There can be large numbers of people to feed, tight timings to work to and plenty happening around you.

At GEC, our chefs come from a wide range of kitchens and culinary backgrounds. The team includes people from many different nationalities, bringing their own experiences, food traditions and ideas to our kitchen. It is this mix that gives chefs plenty of inspiration when they are working on menus. Sometimes it is a familiar dish that's given a new twist, or an ingredient they discovered and want to build a dish around. For Giacomo and Ben, the ACE competition was one opportunity to take that creativity a little further.

Starting with good ingredients

The duck and celeriac in their competition menu gave Giacomo and Ben plenty to work with, and good ingredients are just as important when the team is creating menus for GEC's clients.

GEC sources seasonal, local and sustainable ingredients, working with suppliers across its operation. Fresh fruit and vegetables have an important place in its food, with GEC's current food spend on fresh fruit and vegetables three times that of meat and fish. The business also works with small and medium-sized enterprises, which account for 89% of its food spend.

Ingredient seasonality is another way that gives chefs inspiration to keep menus fresh.

Cooking for the occasion

GEC caters for conferences, launches, dinners, parties, awards and a wide range of other corporate events. The food needs to work for the occasion, whether guests are standing with a canapé in hand, sitting down for dinner or sharing food around a table.

There is a lot to consider before a dish reaches a guest, including guest numbers, timings, the venue, the style of the event and the client's brief. All play a part.

That is where experience in the kitchen matters. The same ability to keep a cool head and make good decisions that Giacomo and Ben needed in the competition is needed when an event is busy and there is no room for things to go off track.

Plenty of choice for guests

Corporate events bring together people with different tastes and dietary requirements, so menus need to offer plenty of choice. Plant-based food is also an important part of our menu offering, with GEC working towards a target of 40% plant-based entrées.

The focus is on whole, fresh ingredients, while chefs also look for ways to use ingredients creatively, including upcycling food that might otherwise go to waste.

It gives the kitchen plenty of room to experiment while making good use of the ingredients available.

Making the most of every ingredient

Good chefs know how to make the most of what they have, and for our teams, that means looking closely at ingredients and finding ways to use more of them.

The team looks for opportunities to upcycle ingredients, helping to reduce food waste while giving chefs another chance to be creative. GEC also works with suppliers and partners to reduce waste through its supply chain.

What Giacomo and Ben brought back from ACE

For Giacomo and Ben, the ACE Ready, Steady, Cook competition was a chance to step away from the everyday kitchen and see what they could do under pressure.

Their dishes highlighted technical skill and creativity, but just as importantly was the way they worked together. Those are skills that come into play every day at GEC, whether the team is preparing food for a large corporate event or developing something new for a client.

Behind every menu at GEC are chefs thinking about the food, suppliers sourcing the ingredients and teams working together to get everything ready for guests.

It is this craft that’s behind GEC's menus - good chefs, great ingredients and a team that knows how to bring everything together. For Giacomo and Ben, it was another opportunity to do what they do best - push their skills and create amazing food experiences that engage the guests who share in them.

Planning a corporate event? Contact our team or find out more about GEC's corporate event catering.