Page 28 of Things We Need to Say (Second Chance Love Stories #2)
Two weeks later, Jay’s stomach felt as though it had turned to liquid as he changed into his chef’s whites in the changing room at the Greenwich warehouse.
He knew the dishes he was about to cook inside out, but he still couldn’t contain his nerves and wondered if he’d ever get over his anxiety.
Rav entered the room and the two men greeted each other with a clap on the back.
‘Good to see you, Jay,’ Rav said.
‘And you!’ Jay replied. ‘Are you as nervous as I am?’
‘Oh, I should say so.’
‘Glad it’s not just me, then.’
‘Nope. My hands are literally shaking. Let’s just hope I don’t knock my sauce over. Although if I do, you’re welcome to save it again.’
‘I’m sure that won’t be necessary but I’m here for you mate.’
A woman who looked to be in her twenties, with a dark plait that fell down her back, a black biker jacket, and clumpy boots on her feet, entered the room.
‘Hi,’ she said hesitantly. ‘I’m Chloe.’
‘I’m Jay and this is Rav.’
‘Pleased to meet you both.’ She flashed them a smile, which showed incredibly white teeth. Her smile lit up her intensely green eyes and Jay found himself mesmerised by them. ‘Now, I’d better get ready or you’ll be starting without me.’
She moved past them and Jay watched as the dark plait bounced jauntily as she walked.
‘Well, that’s three of us.’ Rav broke the silence. ‘Just need to see who else turns up.’
One by one, five more fellow chefs entered the room. It started to feel stuffy and the butterflies in Jay’s stomach returned.
Leanne, the assistant from the previous heat, opened the door and conversation ground to a halt.
‘Good. You’re all here,’ she said. ‘Would you like to come through?’ They stood behind their workstations, nervously anticipating the arrival of the judges.
The door opened and the three of them filed in.
Jay was disappointed that Louis was still part of the judging panel and could only assume that the sponsors weren’t worried about their previous working relationship.
He’d just have to make sure he impressed Angela and Philip as he’d tried to do all along.
Angela was first, her long blonde hair piled on top of her head and her chef’s whites pristine.
As she stopped by the table at the top she smiled and looked to each of them.
‘Hello, everyone, and welcome back. You are all well-deserved winners of the first set of heats and have earned your place in this round of the competition.’ She paused and Philip took over in what was obviously a rehearsed narrative.
‘Although there are only eight of you here today, sixteen contestants in total have made it through to this stage of the competition. You will cook your starters and fish courses today, then the other eight will cook tomorrow. After that, two contestants from each group will leave the competition.’
Jay’s stomach twisted at the thought of that, and he hoped he wouldn’t get knocked out.
‘The next round will be another eliminator, leaving eight contestants in total’, Philip continued. He paused to allow Angela to take over and Jay noted that Louis wasn’t being given a chance to address them. The irony wasn’t lost on him. He knew how much Louis liked the sound of his own voice.
‘The remaining eight will then cook as part of a group.
This will help us to identify how well you work together.
The aim of this competition is to cook at a banquet to celebrate food that is prevalent in London and the south-east, whether that be purely British food, or international cuisine that has been adopted by our region.
At the banquet you will all need to help each other out, so the ability to work as a team will be critical.
Following on, there will be head-to-heads to determine who will cook each course at the banquet.
‘I know that’s a lot of information to take in,’ Angela continued. ‘We just want you all to get a general idea of what is going to happen over the coming weeks. Now, has anyone got any questions?’
Everyone shook their heads.
‘Good. So let’s get on with the cooking, shall we?’ Philip said with a smile. ‘You have one hour to complete your starters.’
Jay concentrated on the ingredients in front of him.
One hour wasn’t much time to create the dish he was hoping to achieve but he had practised it many times and he knew that, if he focused properly, he could get it all done in time.
Just. Jay began by preparing the mushroom stock for the dish he had named ‘Garden on a Plate’.
Half an hour later he was lost in the process when he felt, rather than heard, the judges approach his workstation.
‘Jay.’ Philip smiled at him. ‘Can you tell us what dish you are cooking today?’
‘Yes.’ Jay took a deep breath and began the explanation he’d practised. ‘As more people are moving towards a plant-based diet, for both health reasons and the sustainability of the planet, I’ve decided on a vegetarian starter, which I have designed to tantalise the taste buds.’
‘Okay, that sounds good,’ Angela said. So, what does your dish consist of?’
‘The base is a mushroom stock,’ Jay said.
‘I’ve used different varieties of mushrooms, including portobello, to give it a meaty flavour, along with fresh and dried shiitake and dried porcini mushrooms for extra taste.
The main part of the dish is going to be composed of garden vegetables — hence the name.
The dish is inspired by my great-grandmother.
She was a brilliant cook and wrote all her recipes in a leather-bound journal, which has been handed down through the generations and came into my possession just as I was applying for the competition.
My great-grandmother lived through World War Two, so you can imagine she developed a lot of vegetarian dishes due to rationing.
My grandfather was also a keen gardener and had an allotment, so there were plenty of veggies in our diet growing up.
’ Jay finished in a rush, wondering whether he was talking too much, but was relieved when Angela smiled at him.
‘That’s what I like to see — dishes that come from the heart, created from childhood memories. Good luck, Jay. I’m looking forward to trying your dish. It sounds as though it’s going to be made with love.’
As the judges moved away, Jay found he couldn’t stop grinning at the praise from a chef he had always admired.
Then, realising how little time there was left, he shook himself out of his reverie and once again forced himself to focus.
The rest of the hour seemed to flash past in what felt like a matter of moments, but Jay made sure that he left enough time to allow himself to plate up with precision.
The presentation of the dish was extremely intricate and it was important to him to do it justice.
Finally, just as Louis announced that their time was up, Jay placed the last edible flower on the dish and stepped back with relief.
* * *
By the end of the day, Jay was exhausted.
Both his dishes had been well received and he was delighted that he and Rav had got through to the next round.
Rav had cooked a Bengali starter similar to samosas, but made from a lighter and flakier pastry, and a fish dish made of flat herring called hilsa in a spicy mustard gravy with turmeric and chillies.
Ben and Lucy from the first round had been sent home, but Jay was happy that Chloe would be staying in the competition.
From their conversation in the lounge area earlier, he had learned that she was originally from the north-west, but had trained in France and was now based in London.
She seemed to be a cool and competent chef, and he looked forward to seeing her in the next round.
Now, it was just a case of planning the main course and dessert for the next stage of the competition.
He had a good idea for the dessert, but he would just have to go back to the drawing board for the main course.
And he’d have to do it quickly, because he had a busy working week ahead of him and little spare time to design and practise both dishes.
* * *
The following week, Jay found himself back in the kitchen at Greenwich, once more riddled with nerves.
Of all the heats, this was the one he’d been most dreading and the one he was least prepared for.
After further consultation of his great-grandmother’s recipe book, he had settled on pork tenderloin with masala sauce, bubble and squeak cut into small discs and stacked, and pea purée.
The idea had come from her journal entry about the pig club that local neighbours had formulated during World War Two, when they had all joined forces to supplement meat rations.
As the competition began, Jay tried to shake off his nerves and put all his focus on creating the best dishes he could.
Channelling his skills and concentration paid off — by the time he brought his dishes in front of the judges he was fairly pleased with results.
It was the dessert that had proved to be most tricky.
He’d wanted it to be a real showstopper, so he’d had some moulds made in the shape of an apple, which he’d lined with white chocolate.
The inside was filled with layers of apple mousse, biscuit crumble and raspberry ice cream, and, when the two halves had set, he’d moulded them together and sprayed them green to look like an actual apple, which he’d served with a toffee sauce.
The result hadn’t been as perfect as he would have liked, but he knew the flavours were good.
If he got through to the next round, he’d definitely be concentrating on perfecting that dish.